


To the Moon and Back Again

by CaptainArrow



Series: To the Moon & Back Again [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-10 07:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 50,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainArrow/pseuds/CaptainArrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Athena Denecour is an Agent of Shield but she hides such a bigger secret. And that secret unlocks so many others when she meets a man who sets off a red flag in her mind. Steve Rogers, THE Captain America. He's the perfect combination of personalities and yet she hates him. She hates that she's falling in love with him but the Greek Gods have a bigger plan for the both of them. She must stand by as she watches Steve battle with her past, his future, zombie like creatures, and the future of the world. Gaia, Mother Nature herself, has taken over Russia and sent the Winter Soldier to kill Steve. Just when everyone thinks the zombie disease has died off.... Ultron appears to shake things up and re-activate the ciaos. It's up to Athena, Steve, and a handful of Avengers and Navy Seals to complete the following missions: Put Gaia back to sleep/Destroy Ultron/Kill off the Zombies & Survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Secrets

Never tell anyone. That very simple command has been pounded in my head since the day I found out. The day I discovered who I truly was. What I truly represented. This of course only made my life a living hell until I almost couldn’t stand it. At the young age I was recruited into SHIELD, only one of them truly knew who I was. One. And it remained at that number. I quickly joined the ranks and cleared different levels. Finally I reached the spot I was destined for. The spot in which my mother and father firmly declared I must reach before I told anyone. I could only tell him. My mother told Agent Coulson. I was to tell him. This is my story. This is my romance. This is my secret for me to share with you …..  
I am Athena, Goddess of War & Wisdom.  
Never. Tell. Anyone.  
~~~  
“Agent Denecour, I need your expertise on this one” Coulson announced walking into my office with a skyline view. I put down the pen I was bouncing and glanced at him.  
“What can I help you with Coulson?” I asked, he was my adopted father in a way. He smiled and took a seat on the edge of my desk. To most, a swift jab would have put them on the floor, but like I said Coulson was allowed to be that close. But it stopped there.  
“I need your …. women-ness” He smirked blinking before looking down at my detailed sketch of the SHIELD logo. I cocked my head to the side and looked at him.  
“My women-ness? Please explain to me before I call quits” I ordered. Though he was high ranking, he knew my temper usually won over. He nodded seeming to understand my curiosity.  
“I have a problem …. a certain hero of ours …. won’t follow the rules” He finished handing me a beige file folder with the words ‘CLASSIFIED’ printed in bright red ink. Coffee stains were visible on the edges. Taking the file from him I opened it up.  
“Captain America? You want me to control THE Captain America?” I asked wanting to back out from the clear sight of his muscles, but a little red flag raised in my head. Clearly he was connected to my final goal.  
“Well … you won’t be able to control him … but I want you to tame him.” He smiled again raising up from the corner of my desk.  
“Tame the Captain? Yeah, Coulson what is the real reason you want me with him?” I asked as Agent Romanoff walked into the room. Her ginger red haired almost didn’t seem to fit in my office. Usually my dark brown hair was the only color. We were…..agents to one another. Her clearly having the intent to follow Agent Barton’s birdy tail.  
“He is here. And good luck…” She smiled with an almost evil grin. I glanced at Coulson who gestured towards the door.  
“I’m going to kill you later….” I growled getting up and walking out of my office. My nose bumped into something firm and warm. I took a few steps back and readjusted my bent nose before looking up. There he was.  
“My bad miss. Have you seen Agent Coulson?” He asked. His blonde hair perfectly split so one side almost hung over his eyes. Hera was right…he is built like a god. A Greek god. Jawline nice and sharp, like from stone. Perfectly squared off shoulders, and lets not even begin to discuss his chest. I nodded regaining my composure.  
“You mean the asshole who tried to use me for my women ness against you?” I asked. His jaw clenched and he ran a hand through his hair before it fell back to his sides. Perfect Soldier.  
“Before we get off on the wrong foot, I’m Steve Rogers” He offered out his hand. I gave in and shook it.  
“I’m Athena Denecour” I shook his.  
“He said you could help” Steve finished looking up at me.  
“Help you do what? No one will give me the details.” I growled and a grin appeared on his face from ear to ear.  
“I need some training” He responded and my jaw dropped.  
“You? You need training from me?" I questioned doing another look over.  
“Look…I’m rusty. And I need somebody to rent an apartment with me.” He mumbled the last part before looking away.  
“Hun…you are grown man. Why do you need somebody to room with you?” I asked and Coulson appeared from the shadows of the doorway.  
“Because Fury is requiring it. Well the board is.” Coulson explained.  
“Why would they require it? He’s a man. He can take care of himself” I questioned almost wanting to apologize to the Captain.  
“Because they classified me as a freak who needed a caretaker incase he decided to commit suicide.” Steve finished. I went silent and understood why. He was just unfrozen, fought a war against aliens, and he had no one to help him adjust. He needed a friend.  
“Does that answer your question?” Coulson asked looking at me like I was the bad guy. I sighed and nodded.  
“Captain, I would be honored to be your roommate” I answered and he smiled. Coulson nodded and walked away from the two of us.  
“Should we go to the apartment?” He asked. I walked back into my office to grab my minor belongings and followed him out the door. Agent Romanoff gave me a glare and I smiled with pride.  
“I’m guessing you have a room picked out?” I asked trying to make small talk as we arrived at his motorcycle. All arguments aside, it was a beautiful bike. Clearly it was a Harley Davidson from his time that had been kept in perfect condition. I almost had to giggle at the American colors designed into various parts of the bike.  
“Um … I was hoping my roommate would pick first” He answered handing me a helmet. I took a step back and held the file close to my chest.  
“I don’t do bikes ….” I announced and backed myself up when he got closer.  
“Have you ever tried a bike? How do you know that you don’t like them if you’ve never tried them?” He grinned handing me the helmet again. I glanced down at the helmet, gave it a glare, and looked back up at him.  
“That rule only applies to food” I growled taking the helmet and handing him my belongings so he could store them. He chuckled and sat down on the bike first. He turned to face me and patted the spot behind him. I bit my lower lip looking the situation over.  
“Does not. Applies to everything” He smiled as I slowly seated my self on the bike. He was patient for me to get as comfortable as I was going to get on the bike. I wrapped my arms around the semi normal waist he had and held on for dear life. I could hear him chuckling and see his shoulders move a little. But following quickly after he started the bike and we headed towards the apartment. I prayed the Zeus to watch over us as we drove to the apartment. At first I kept my eyes shut tight with my cheek pressed to his back. If I just don’t look nothing bad will happen right? That’s how I got rid of the monsters under my bed. Close my eyes and pull the covers over me and they would magically disappear. When we pulled to a stop light I could feel him twisting around to look at me.  
“I promise your safe…. just take a look before the light turns green” He called out and I slowly opened one eye and looked around my surroundings. People were in cars around us, one even had a little kid waving his hand at us furiously. I sat up a little and waved and nudged Steve to wave. He turned and saluted the kid as the car turned the corner. I smiled and put myself back in my comfortable spot as I looked around the various other cars. Some had girls glaring other’s had senior citizens who shook their head and smiled at us. Steve picked up his leg as revved the bike as we started to move again. Causing me to cling to his back harder.  
Once we arrived at the apartment, he unlocked the door and let me in first. It was a average sized apartment. It was a little dark due to the way it was set up. A small blue kitchen was set perfectly where the sunlight from the large bay window shone in on it. After walking past the kitchen it opened up into a hardwood floor living room with two large ceiling to floor windows were hung, giving a beautiful view of Central Park. It was a soft beige color that gave itself different shades thanks to the windows. A hall lead to the rest of the apartment. On both sides of the hallways were average sized bedrooms. A bathroom was shared on the left hand side of the hallway. At the end was a large oak door, and once opened the master suite was in view. It was designed much like the living room except these windows you could sit in and still gave an amazing view of the building across the street. The walls were hospital white and clearly this apartment needed some tender loving care but it was doable.  
“What do you think?” He asked as he stood in the middle of the living room. I walked back out from the master suit, my boots making large thumping noises on the hardwood.  
“Its stunning. I love it. It’s much bigger than the shack I live in.” He chuckled again and nodded.  
“I suppose I should help you move in. “ He offered walking closer with his hands in his pockets.   
“I suppose so” I smiled


	2. Pant sizes and Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve takes Athena out to dinner and we begin to see the dark side of Athena and maybe why Fury paired this unique characters together. Temper flare and emotions are exposed and the last line is a treat that some of you may pick up on. This is more of a fluff chapter but does give you and inside in some character relationships.

“Thanks for doing the dishes” Steve commented as he walked past me in the living room. We had finally moved in. Steve gave me the master suite after a large argument over it. And he took one of the larger bedrooms close by. He looked so different in jeans. Since the day I met him, which was around a month ago, he had always worn khakis. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done the laundry and maybe tried to hid his khakis so that he would wear the brand new jeans. Some how he always seemed to find a pair of khakis. He never questioned me about it, just kept spawning them.  
“Thanks for taking the trash out” I responded watching him take off his jacket and shoes. He now worked for the police department as an officer. Of course he loved it but over time, it started to make me extremely nervous. I almost had to pinch myself now a days around Steve. He was the perfect man, except he didn’t know how handle the new world. Of course his lack of information of this modern century made me laugh silently to myself.  
“You’re welcome. Can I take you out to dinner tonight? I’m tired of frozen pizzas” He offered sitting on the lounge chair. I covered myself up with the flimsy blanket across the back of the couch. My Greek tattoo was showing.  
“You don’t always have to pay hun” I smiled and he ran a hand through his hair.  
“Actually I do. I owe you for dealing with me on a daily basis.” He answered twisting his thumbs. I scooted closer to the chair on the couch.  
“It’s not dealing with you. Its being a friend. And you don’t owe me anything … but thank you” I smiled and he nodded. This was how most of our conversations went. We were both kind and were respectful. He was always a gentleman and I always defended my past with every word I said. We both seemed to have secrets and I just wanted to lay them out on the table. Don’t remind me about this dumb crush that is developing. He rose up and walked towards his room.  
“Pssst …” A familiar voice called out from my right side. I looked over quickly, and there stood Aphrodite herself. Her perfectly darkened skinned blended nicely with the jet black hair. We were the opposite of each other. She was wonderful around men, I could barely deal with my feelings for a man.  
“What?” I whispered glancing at Steve’s door and back at her. She was smiling so wide, I knew she was picking on me.  
“Someone has a soldier protecting them from the bad guys” She giggled walking over towards the chair he was sitting in.  
“He’s my roommate” I growled looking over at the door.  
“You know … he’s more than that right? You can sense it” She announced with a stern face, both eyebrows raised to make sure I got the point. She was leaning over the back of the lounge chair, her arms crossed.  
“What does he mean then? I need help. No one will talk to me about him” I whined leaning back against the couch.  
“All will make sense if you just return the feelings he’s trying to display to you” She explained walking back over to me.  
“That’s it? That’s going to help me figure out why he’s so important?” I questioned, but she started to disappear as Steve re-entered the room.  
“Everything alright?” He asked walking out to the living room.  
“Yeah. We still on for dinner?” I smiled standing up.  
“Yes we are. Motorcycle?” He offered holding out his helmet which he had retrieved from the shelf on the wall next to the lounge chair. After arriving at the local diner called Marco’s, we both took a seat in the far couple’s table in the outside venue. Deciding on a drink took less than a minute and our food was order shortly after as well.  
“Why are those girls starring?” Steve asked adjusting his chest tight tshirt under the brand new jacket I found for him one day shopping. He seemed to be proud of his new clothing item.  
I looked up from my drink and over my shoulder to where he was watching. The girls were clearly up-tight and never denied a man. Once I met their glances it turned into hatred and jealousy. I turned back around and stared into my cola.  
“Because they hate the fact that I’m sitting with you.” I finished and he shifted in his seat.  
“Why would they hate that?” He asked glancing between me and the girls.  
“You are the Captain America, and they don’t think I deserve to be sitting with you” I explained taking a sip. He started to get out of his chair.  
“Don’t deserve it?” He stared at them a moment before taking a step towards them, clearly having the intent to walk over and say something.  
“Steve….just let it go” I ordered grabbing his hand as he walked past me. He huffed out a breath and then returned to his chair.  
“But … they shouldn’t care” He growled not even removing his hand from mine that rested on the table.  
“It’s how girls are these days. You are a trophy they want to have. “ I answered.  
“See back in my day … it was the opposite” He sighed still holding my hand.  
“Well … things change sweetie” I commented, almost hitting myself for calling him a pet name.  
“If they keep glaring at you I’m gonna go over there and say something” He growled as our waiter walked over.  
“And then they are going to win. If you give in to them, they get you away from me” Once again there I go with being nice to him.  
“I wont then ….” He relaxed and I let go of his hand to help the waiter with the plates. His hand of course stayed there perfectly content on staying close to me.  
“Thank you” I thanked the waiter who walked off quickly. I let my feelings give seeing as his hand laid in a way that looked like he was holding hands with someone just minutes before hand. Yeah it was me. I reached my hand out and gently slip my hand into his. His hand didn’t seem to hesitate before laying over mine. I could even hear the girls growling in the background.  
“You need to eat” Steve ordered working on his hamburger with one hand. I giggled seeing him fail to hold the large burger in his hand.  
“And you need both hands.” I smiled letting go of his hand.  
“I guess I do” He grinned and started to eat like a normal human.  
“Why do I need to eat?” I asked splitting my burger in half. He finished the large bite he was working on.  
“Because you keep eating less and less of your dinner every night” He commented waiting for me to take a bite as well.  
“How … How did you know?” I asked finally taking a bite of the perfectly cooked burger.  
“I find pieces of it in the trash. Along with other chunks of lunch and breakfast. Eat” He ordered, pointing to my plate.  
“Yes Captain” I smiled eating bigger bites of my burger. I was trying to hide my eating problems. I was bigger than Agent Romanoff and I hated it. Now I was caught by Steve, and unless he forgot about it, I’d always stay bigger than her.  
“Why aren’t you eating as much?” He asked as he was over half way done with his burger.  
“I … don’t like my pants size” I answered not making eye contact.  
“What’s wrong with your pants size? You look great” He question, concern lacing his voice.  
“Agent Romanoff is sma-” He picked up my burger and put it to my lips.  
“Again … What’s wrong with your pants size? She looks like she could break like twig” He reiterated trying to inch the burger closer. I took it from him and ate another bite.  
“Why are you so concerned?” I asked as he kept an eye on me.  
“Because I promised Coulson to take care of you outside of the office.” He explained working on his fries again. This man ate like it was his last meal sometimes.  
“So making sure I’m eating my entire plate is part of that promise?” I asked and he nodded.  
“Yes. And we aren’t leaving until you finish all of that burger Miss” He smiled slowing down a little as I reached the halfway mark in my burger.  
“How about I finish this burger if you answer something for me” I asked taking another bite.  
“Fair deal. What’s your question?” He replied.  
“Do you have … feelings for me?” I asked and quickly stared at the plate below me. The table grew silent for a moment before he cleared his throat and held out his hand again.  
“More than you think I do” He smiled, his cheeks a little pink. I placed my hand in his as I finished the last bite of burger.  
“How much?” I asked smiling like a giant goofball, but his smiled matched mine.  
“To the Moon and Back Again”


	3. Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why the heck is she named Athena?! Now you will know why! Plot lines start to reveal themselves and we get a fight scene finally. Plus we get an inside look into Steve's head and maybe how he feels. I'll apologize for the cliffhanger ending but I want you to read the next chapter.

“You need to tell him!” Aphrodite, goddess of Love, yelled. Her hair now blonde and skin now lighter. I sighed and got up from my spot on the couch.  
“I’m not telling him.” I growled crossing my arms.  
“Why not? He seems like a nice dude” Apollo, god of Music and the Sun, asked walking out of my kitchen with a banana in hand.  
“Are you two serious? He still doesn't even accept Thor as a god. Do you really think he’s going to accept me?” I explained sitting in his chair.  
“So what are your plans then Oh Great Athena?” Aphrodite huffed.  
“Live with your prince charming for the rest of your immortal life. You know he’s going to die” Hestia, goddess of the hearth and architecture, added in which sunk my heart to my stomach.  
“ The prophecy hasn't come true yet. It could still change.” I defended looking at the three Greeks staring at me.  
“Its going to soon! Its almost the winter solstice …. its due to start then.” Hestia explained.  
“Give the poor girl a break” Another voice added in, it was clearly Hera, the goddess of marriage and women hood.  
“Thank you” I sighed.  
“Listen Athena, the prophecy of Gaea doesn't start for another month. He needs to know what’s going on ….. and who you are. The passing of the Greek Olympic torch happens for a reason. Ares needs a replacement... and Rogers fits the bill. Just think it over alright?” Apollo explained before disappearing. Soon after everyone else disappeared but Hera.  
“Listen honey … I know what Greek stories say about Ares …. I know you hate him … but there is so much you don’t know about him.” Hera soothed brushing the hair from my face.  
“Well tell me please …. If it will help.” I sighed sitting in his chair. Great, I’m associating furniture pieces with him now.  
“I can’t. Zeus banned me from ever telling you the truth. I suggest going and visiting Apollo. He hid from Zeus when asked about what happened. He will tell you” Hera disappeared from the area as the door knob clicked and Steve walked into back from battle practice.  
“Good afternoon sleepy head” He smiled coming into the living room. He tossed his gym bag on the floor as he untied his shoes and took off his jacket. He constantly worked out now a days. Not that I’m complaining or anything.  
“Can um... we talk?” I asked trying to sum up some courage.  
“Yes” He sat down on the couch, I walked over and sat across from him.  
“I know …. you believe strictly in God …. but there is more to this world than you think.” I announced.  
“Thor and Loki for example? They are supposedly gods?” He questioned.  
“They are gods. They are Norse gods. Like I am a Greek Goddess” I said before turning to look away from him.  
“How is that true?” He asked leaning in closer to me.  
“I know it seems far fetched but it is true. There are other gods out there besides just yours.” I answered looking back at him. He sat back against the couch and stared at the blank TV screen.  
“I guess … it makes some sense. But what about MY God?” He asked looking at me.  
“I can’t say anything. I’ve never met him. I just know how my Greek Gods and Goddess came to be. I’m sorry” I offered.  
“Why did you have to tell me? We could have lived never knowing that” He almost hissed.  
“Because …. I was tired of hiding it from you” I admitted keeping the secret of his true purpose hidden until the right time.  
“Then can I share a secret with you?” He asked.  
“It would only be fair.” I smiled hoping the hard part of him accepting it passed. He scooted close to me and brought his lips down to my level.  
“Steve Rogers!” The door was banged on heavily as Coulson walked in. Steve glared at the floor before looking at Coulson and Barton.  
“You are needed on the front” Barton answered waving at me. Barton and I are close friends, Romanoff just causes the problem.  
“For what?” Steve questioned.  
“Apparently Ultron has returned” Coulson said.  
“Who or what is an Ultron?” Steve asked looking at me for help and I just shrugged.  
“Ultron is a super powerful, fire shooting metal machine …. sort of” Barton tried to explain.  
“And so you need the Avengers?” Steve asked standing up and sighing as he walked towards his room.  
“Yes … and every SHIELD agent we can find” Coulson added looking at me.  
“I thought I was on combat leave” I snickered standing up to put on my own uniform.  
“Not anymore” Coulson snickered I pulled on my uniform and clicked my belt and put my gun into their holsters.  
“So where are we going?” I asked bumping into Steve again after we both walked out of our rooms at the same time.  
“I’m sorry Athena” Steve whispered his hand brushing my own while we followed Coulson out.  
“How are you two driving?” Coulson asked as two large, black SUVs pulled into the alleyway of our apartment.  
“Motorcycle” We both said smiling at my new found love of his bike. Coulson walked over and gave Steve the address as I was putting on my helmet and getting on. Steve walked back over and sat down in front of me on the bike. He handed me the shield to strap around my back in order to keep me closer to him rather than having the shield between the two of us. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my cheek on his sturdy back for a moment. He started up the bike and adjusted it to fit for him as we looked over at Coulson and Barton who had already pulled out of the driveway and towards the gated entrance of our apartment complex.  
“Ready?” He called out from over his shoulder.  
“Yup” I answered sitting my chin on his shoulder. He smiled and the bike sped off from its parked spot and towards central park which is where we heard there was a problem. I kept a surveillance around us since Steve was more focused on driving this speeding bullet. Buildings became a blur around us as we headed towards central park. He was driving a lot faster than usual. I’m guessing SHIELD already alerted the cops to our fast arrival because we passed several of them as we drove. No lights or nothing they just sat there. Upon arrival we both slowed down to see the giant metal man blowing fire like Godzilla everywhere. It made eye contact with me as Steve turned the bike. Ultron picked up a hydrant and tossed it at the bike. Unfortunately it caught us right in the side, scraping my heel but tossing us off the bike. With a loud thud I landed on a patrol car’s window. Thankfully it didn't shatter but it knocked the wind out of my stomach. After about 40 seconds I was able to raise up and glance around for Steve. I couldn't find him until I heard him shouting at Coulson and Barton. He was running towards me. I sat up and slid of the patrol car.  
“You alright?” He asked giving me a once over.  
“Scraped and possibly missing my heel but other wise ship shaped.” I flashed a fake smile and followed him over to Ultron. I heard more police cars pull up behind us to back him up. Ultron started shooting fire and I stayed behind Steve’s shield.  
“We need water” I muttered and Steve nodded his head. We both ran over to the nearest fire hydrant and started kicking it and hitting it with the shield. A fireman seen what we were doing and ran over to help us pop it.  
“Aim the water at his face” Steve ordered the fireman nodded. I ran over limping a tad over to the fire trucks.  
“Get your hoses out. Find hydrants and shot him with it. Full blast. This asshole can’t feel it anyways” I announced to each fireman I ran past. My ankle was getting worse by the fact that I could see blood pooling around my feet when I stopped for a breath. I knew I shouldn't be running but Steve needed me and so did New York City. I walked my way over to where he was standing shooting. I pulled my gun out of my holster and handed it to him so he didn't have to reload. I quickly reloaded the gun and put it back in his holster. I dashed off towards an abandoned warehouse and climbed towards the roof hoping I can get an overview of the battle since I was better with tactics. I watch as Ultron started his surge towards Coulson. I grabbed my gun and shot the side of his head hoping to draw his attention away from Coulson. I kept pacing that part of the building watching for a prime time to strike. Steve finally found his chance to hit the beast. While I shot him Steve could run up and slam his shield into Ultron’s knees. Knocking him down long enough for some heaving pounding on the back of Ultron’s neck. I understood Steve’s tactic, the neck metal connected to the head. With enough sheer force, Steve for example, it could pop off. Unfortunately Ultron rose up pretty fast and Steve took his crouching position to cover his body up with his shield. But we all watched as Ultron took off in the sky and flew south of New York City. I quickly ran back down but not before my ankle became a problem and caused a little bit of tumble down some stairs. These tumbles resulted in my chest and stomach bouncing along concrete floor. I’m getting real tired of the wind getting knocked out of me. This time it was a little harder to raise up off my ankle. I felt weak compared to everyone. My stupid ankle was causing the klutziness. I was the goddess of war, shouldn't I be a wee bit more graceful than this? I cough the dust away from my mouth. I can’t call for help...it will seem weak. But I’m pretty sure you just destroyed your ankle, head, and knees. I heard some heavy footsteps coming near the room I was in.  
“Hey do you need some help?” A man’s voice rang out. I glanced up from my pathetic position on the floor, my head now starting to throb from hitting a step on the stairs.  
“Rogers” I mumbled closing my eyes to get the throbbing to stop. Get up off the floor! My inner pride screamed at me for laying on the floor. If I was in better shape I would be doing the same thing. But at the moment, I knew getting up and walking with this head pain, my dumb ankle, and possibly some knee injuries, I would cause more harm. The man took off from where I was laying. I could hear him shouting Rogers. Shouting and running boots could be heard between us. When I looked up, it was Coulson who kneeled down to my level.  
“Athena? Talk to me” He called out but my eyes rolled back into my head and everything went black.


	4. Thank You

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Steve’s POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Captain let me bandage this up” The blonde nurse tried to order but I tugged away. Not to be mean to the nice lady but I wanted to check on my troops, especially Athena. The three seconds I ran towards some kids trapped in a car, was the three seconds she needed me. I wasn’t the last person she seen before she closed her eyes. At least someone found her.  
“Rogers let the girl bandage you” Fury ordered seeing me fight and tug.  
“Where’s Athena?” I asked lifting arm up so she can bandage.  
“In the infirmary. Her ankle and head are in pretty bad shape but she’ll bounce back. She always does.” Coulson explained standing next to Fury.  
“Can I see her?” I questioned rising up.  
“Let her finish that bandage first” Fury order and I glared. I waited until she was done and finally stood up and walked towards where I figured her room was. The only marker I could see to figure out was Barton standing outside of her room.  
“I figured you would come by to check on your girlfriend” Barton smirked and I sighed.  
“I haven’t kissed her yet” I admitted watching her through the glass. She was still asleep, and I almost smiled seeing red, white, and blue flowers next to her bedside.  
"Why not? Does the Capsicle not know how to?" Barton questioned as Romanoff walked back over.  
"I know how to..." I growled before walking into the room. It was too quiet in there. Things beeped and the whiteness didn't fit with the current situation.  
"Coulson told me you weren't too nice to the nurse" She croaked sitting up and rubbing her eyes.  
"She kept pinching my side" I answered taking the seat next to her.  
"Maybe she was a newbie" She finished before trying to reach for her water next to me. After seeing her fingers barely make it to the tray I handed it to her. Which caused a defeated sigh followed by a drink.  
"Do you not like help?" I questioned sitting it back down next to her.  
"I hate it. I feel pathetic and weak asking for help. I'm a Greek goddess of War and Wisdom. I shouldn't need help getting my water." She huffed laying back on the extra fluffy pillows.  
"I was the same way, but sometimes you have to ask. Its not weak, its smart" I tried to convince her to listen to me. She didn't respond to me for a few minutes seeming to think over what I said.  
"You did really well fighting that metallic .... thing" She commented, her thumbs playing with the blanket covering her lower half.  
"Thank you. Would you like for me to see when you get to go home?" I offered standing up. She glanced up before looking at my side bandage.  
"Should I re-wrap your bandage?" She asked. I sat down on the bed next to her and she leaned over and started unwrapping it. I watched Barton lean over his shoulder and watch us. My protective instinct kicked in and I glared back at him. He glanced up at me and seemed to understand where I was coming from. He turned around and faced Agent Romanoff. I felt one tiny pinch followed by her patting the spot.  
“All better. Now please go see when I can get home” She asked sitting back against the pillows. I nodded and walked towards the door.  
“And Steve?” She asked in a much more gentle voice. I looked back over at her.  
“Yeah?” I asked waiting.  
“Don’t … take the blame for what happened.” She added glancing down at my clenched hand which I let go. Walking out of the room slowly, I made my way over to a doctor close by.  
“Excuse me sir, can I please have a moment with you?” I formally asked. He closed up the file he was reading and turned to me. His pepper and salt beard was clearly showing his age, he reminded me vaguely of someone but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. His thinning white hair was tucking itself away from his forehead, but his eyes still shone with young age.  
“How can I help you … oh Mr. Captain America.” He smiled noticing the bright white star on my chest.  
“My um … my girlfriend … wants to know when she can go home” I asked looking at Barton, who must have overheard the conversation. Two thumbs up and a devil grin followed as I met the doctor’s eyes again.  
“And just who would your girlfriend be Mr. America?” He asked crossing his arms.  
“Athena Denecour” I answered resting my thumbs inside my belt closest to my abs.  
“Ms. Denecour, yes I remember her. Very pretty, I can see how you two fit together” He joked walking over to a filing cabinet behind the visitor center’s desk. He drew the third drawer down from the top and started going through files.  
“Denecour” I called out again just in case he forgot. He waved a hand at me and continued to look.  
“Ah! I found her file” He smiled shutting the drawer with his foot and walking back over.  
“Ms. Denecour came in unconscious with minor wounds including the ankle.” He hummed to himself looking over the file.  
“Every dealt with a concussion?” He questioned looking at me. I shook my head.  
“No sir I haven’t” I replied putting my hands behind my back.  
“Basically, you just have to help her. Which I know will be difficult. But at night when you get up to go pee, wake up and see if she’s okay in the head. Make sure she gets ice on her head. And don’t let her do anything loud or hard for at least 24 hours. And let her rest. If that means laying down with her and hold and arm over it. Do it. They need rest.” He emphasized the last part so much it drilled into my head.  
“I think I understand sir. You are pretty much their baby sitter for the next few days.” I smiled and he nodded.  
“Exactly. You are the boyfriend, and you are twice as big as her. I’m sure you can handle her” He smiled handing me her file.  
“Its not so much the handling her physically, its her mouth” I joked and he nodded sighing.  
“But that mouth … is going to get you out of some sticky situations. Just you wait” He smiled shaking his index finger at me as he discharged her.  
“Can she leave now?” I asked and he handed me a note.  
“Just lay this on the bed, and wheel her out. Don’t let her walk to much” He ordered bringing a nurse over to get a wheelchair. I walked over into her room and by her bedside.  
“Do I get to go home?” She asked seeing me more relaxed.  
“You do. But, looks like I’m your babysitter for the next few days” I smiled and she just shrugged.  
“I’m a pretty easy baby” She giggled as the nurse wheeled in the wheelchair. I reached over to help her. She glanced between my hands before leaning into them. Her ankle was bandaged enough to tell me she shouldn’t be walking on it.  
“What a nice husband you have” The African American nurse commented, her black bob hair cut hid her face while she fixed the back of the chair. Athena and I both shared a goofy smile.  
“Thank you. He’s a perfect gentleman” Athena commented resting her hand over mine.  
“I’m sure he’s got you just fine. Feel better soon” She smiled waving at the both of us.  
“Well look who’s out and about.” Barton called out standing up long before Romanoff.  
“I’m surprised you’re still awake” She grinned playfully hitting him the stomach. Romanoff grabbed his arm.  
“Let’s go” She ordered and Barton gently knocked her hand off.  
“Agent Barton can you please drive Athena to the front doors?” I asked taking my hands off the handles.  
“Um … Sure Cap” He answered taking the handles and walking towards the doors. Every now and then he’d swerve them and she would laugh.  
“What ever you have against Athena, loose it. She hasn’t done anything to you” I growled standing in front of Romanoff.  
“Oh come on Rogers, she’s just as dangerous as Banner is. No one knows how much power she has” Romanoff tried to get me on her side. Clearly she had bigger intentions than just getting me on her side. But there was no way I was leaving Athena’s side of this stupid argument.  
“It doesn’t matter. Just like I told Banner, its an honor to meet her. Learn to respect someone for once. When I was a soldier, we respected those higher ranked than us” I narrowed my eyes to prove my point.  
“She’s not higher ranking than me.” Romanoff spitted.  
“She’s the Goddess of War… If I outrank you, she sure as hell outranks you .…. trust me” I finished walking down the hallway towards her and Barton spinning in circles.  
“B-Barton. My stomach hurts” She giggled which made me smile and Barton himself was laughing.  
“Alright, Bird Boy, I’ll take her back now” I announced and he let go of the handles giving me back the control.  
“If you guys need anything, just give me a call” He added before walking back to Romanoff.  
“Ready to go home?” I asked taking off my jacket and laying it over her.  
“Yes. To bad we can’t use the motorcycle.” She sighed.  
“It would hurt your foot too much.” I commented as Coulson arrived in front of us.  
“We’ll drive you home. Fury has your bike back at SHIELD headquarters. We’ll have someone bring it over early in the morning.” Coulson smiled down at Athena.  
“I’m in good hands” Athena smiled leaning back into the wheelchair.  
“I know.” He smiled opening up the SHIELD black SUV door. I walked around and picked her up before helping her into the car.  
“I hate being carried” She whined sticking out her bottom lip. I smiled and shut the door letting her get her own seat belt on, I was a little afraid I would get yelled at for doing that as well.  
“How did you convince her to let you pick her up?” Coulson asked cocking his head to one side.  
“I just did it … at first she just stared at my hands but gave in eventually” I shrugged walking across the street onto the left hand side of the car and getting into the backseat. Someone was always driving these SUVs but they never let us drive. That’s why I bought a motorcycle the first chance I got. Once Coulson got in the car we headed for the apartment.  
“SHIELD will issue you a car” Coulson announced looking at Athena through the back mirror.  
“But I never use one” She added looking at me. Most days I was her transportation, which was fine with me.  
“Well Fury decided you needed one” Coulson smiled and looked at me.  
“He’s worried about you driving her around while she’s injured.” Coulson explained.  
“I can see why but she’s fine in my care.” I tried to defend our beloved way of travel.  
“You can return the car once she can handle getting on and off the bike” Coulson finished as the car pulled into our parking area.  
“Thanks for the ride” Athena commented taking off her seat belt and opening the door. I soon followed the same pattern and walked over to her side of the car.  
“I’ll carry you up the stairs” I offered holding out my hands again, She only took one as she stood on her good foot and we hopped towards the stairs. Coulson’s vehicle pulled out of the driveway as we made it to the second flight of stairs.  
“Once the car is out of sight, please carry me” She whispered clearly in enough pain to give in to help.  
I kept an eye on the car and as soon as it turned down a road I reached down and picked her up.  
“Didn’t want to seem weak to Coulson?” I asked holding her close as she pulled the house keys out of my jacket and unlocked the door for me. I stepped in and shut the door quietly with my foot.  
“I knew he would pick on me later for it” She answered hiding her face in my chest as we walked to her room. One finger seemed to be tracing the star on my chest.  
“Your nice, big, comfy bed.” I smiled setting her down on the side of it. She handed me my jacket which I tossed in the dirty clothes hamper in her room.  
“Mind helping me with something?” She asked almost mumbling the phrase.  
“Sure, you name it” I smiled kneeling down below her.  
“I um...ran out of t-shirts last night because I forgot to do laundry. Can I borrow one of yours?” She asked clearly wanting to get out of the hospital nightgown.  
“That’s fine with me.” I answered getting up and walking to my room, I pulled out the shirt I was wearing the day I was unfrozen and walked back into her room. I tossed it at her which covered her face. At first I was worried I just ticked her off but I could hear a little giggling under it. I smiled walking over and lifting it and looking at her. She covered my eyes, my response afterwards changed the rest of the night. I leaned forward and kissed her. Yup, virgin Steve who doesn’t know how to act around women kissed a girl. To my surprise and luck I felt the same action back to me. After a few more kisses shared between us she pulled back and uncovered my eyes.  
“Thank you for your help. And I’m sorry if I was a pain in the ass” She smiled.  
“No not at all … I get it. You don’t want to feel weak and asking for help stoops to that level. Thanks for letting me help” I smiled.  
“One last thing, can you hand me those shorts on top of my dresser and turn around?” She smiled as I did as I was told. From context clues and sound, I knew she had changed clothes.  
“All finished?” I asked barely glancing over my shoulder.  
“Yes. You can turn back around.” I turned back around and she looked fantastic.  
“I’m gonna go get ready for bed myself. If you need anything, just call.” I smiled leaning down for another kiss, still not being denied.  
“Can …. you sleep in here with me? I’m afraid I’ll roll off the bed.” She was prone to that. Several times the first few nights we stayed together, she had rolled off in her sleep. I always heard the thump and always came in, to only find her still dead asleep on the floor. Her bed was up in the corner with lights around it.  
“As you wish” I smiled only making her giggle as it was the perfect line from The Princess Bride, her favorite romance movie.  
“Make sure to lock the doors” She called out as I walked away from her room to get changed.


	6. Lullaby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll apologize now, this is a fluff chapter. If you don't like those kind....just wait for the next one.

Athena’s POV  
Could you ask for a better first kiss? Or a better Wesley? He knew exactly what he was doing, I don’t know why everyone treats him like he has no idea what he does to a girl. I may be a goddess, but that man is a god himself. No wonder Ares wants him as his replacement. The perfect little soldier. I scooted myself back in the corner, wanting Steve to lay on the edge. Okay, maybe I was a little liar when I said I was afraid I was going to roll off. But who wouldn’t want to be around him? Crap, its a lot worse. I have fallen for this man. Pretty blue eyes, perfect hair, perfect teeth in his crooked smile. I heard the doors lock, blinds being pulled down, light switches flipping and footsteps towards my room. He finally came in a tight black shirt, which of course tugged in all the right ways, and a pair of gray boxer shorts. Let’s not even discuss those. I laid down and patted the spot next to me on the bed. He turned on the fan, which was always on in his room, and left the door slightly cracked. This was his nighttime ritual. Apparently he left the door cracked so his superhuman ears could hear anything that invaded our little apartment. But nothing would, we lived in the most patrolled, guarded, and watched neighborhood. Lots of SHIELD agents, heroes, and spies lived here so of course it was kept practically a secret. Guards patrolled, and every house was installed with top of the line security system. And my apartment had the added benefit of a soldier who woke up at the drop of a coin. Who knew about tonight though, he fought in a battle and just got out of the hospital.  
“Do I need to change your bandage before bed?” I asked sitting up. He rolled up his shirt on that side and felt it.  
“No, its still dry and pretty tight. You can change it in the morning with yours” He finished walking over and laying down on the bed. I handed him one of my five pillows that I kept in my bed. He only took two, the two thinnest that I hated, and handed the other three to me.  
“Good night” I leaned over this time and kissed him, which he kissed back and an arm reached over and pulled me to him. I smiled as a big yawn soon followed, with sleepy blinky eyes as a big indicator of how tired he was.  
“Good night” He smiled apparently perfectly content with how and where he was laying. I sat up for a moment pushing the hair out of his face before finding a perfect pillow spot on his shoulder . I don’t think I was going to end up on the floor tonight.  
Steve’s POV  
I woke up about four hours later, from my own nightmares of back then. When I blinked my eyes open, she was awake staring at me. She smiled gently.  
“Bad dream?” She asked as scooted us towards the wall more since we had drifted towards the edge.  
“Bad flashbacks” I answered laying down on one of the pillows she gave me.  
“I could tell, you tossed and turned a lot” She sighed rubbing her thumb against my cheek bone, just light enough where it tickled but with enough pressure to make me feel it.  
“I’m sorry for waking you” I sighed myself staring at her.  
“Can I try something on you that my grandmother used on me?” She asked.  
“If you think it will stop the nightmares” I sighed again.  
“It will, it always worked on me. But you have to keep your eyes closed, listen, and just relax.” She soothed waiting for me to close my eyes. When I finally did she started running her finger lightly over my face and started to sing.  
“Νάνι νάνι το παιδί μου. (Nani nani my child) Έλα Ύπνε ύπνωσέ το (Come Sleep make it sleep) και γλυκά ’ποκοίμησέ το. (and sweetly lull it.) Έλα Ύπνε από τ’ αμπέλια, (Come Sleep from the vineyards) πάρ’ το παιδί μου από τα χέρια. (take my child from the hands.) Πάρ’ το σύρ’ το στα μαντράκια, (Take it to the sheepcote) να κοιμάται σαν τ’ αρνάκια, (to sleep like a little lamb,) να κοιμάται σαν τ’ αρνάκια, (to sleep like a little lamb, ) να ξυπνά σαν τα κατσικάκια. (and to wake up like a little goat. )” While she sang I could tell it wasn’t any language I have ever heard of before, and I assumed it was Greek, based off that she’s a Greek goddess. It was very beautiful and soft. Before I knew it, soft darkness consumed me and I fell into a deep, dreamless, sleep.  
I awoke the next morning with her hand still on my chest, fast asleep. I glanced over at the clock to find out that it was around 4 am so I shrugged and laid back down with my arms around her. I could hear that song in my head still, I mostly just heard her singing since I didn’t understand what she was singing. Whatever she was saying, it was beautiful and I wanted to hear it again when she was awake. Glancing around the room, I noticed little knick knacks that reminded me of her pure heritage. Where was that laptop Coulson got me? I gently untangled myself from her as I got up and walked to my room. It was shocking how different our worlds seemed simply from looking at our two rooms. Her room screamed Greek, while mine simply whimpered boring compared to hers. Everything was in order in her room, while mine had piles. I walked over to my bed and moved some papers around until I found the black metalic computer and carried it with me back to her room. She had not moved from that spot, and still looked like someone was laying with her. I sat the laptop on the bedside table next to me and slide back into bed. She didn't seem unphased as I adjusted myself to keep her comfortable and my two arms free enough to type. I reached over and grabbed the laptop and placed it on my lower chest and turned it on. At first I was worried the loud power on noise would wake her, but she just rolled over with her back to my side and kept on sleeping. I pulled the blanket back up to cover most of her, as I pulled it up a tiny Captain America doll tumbled out of the sheets. I picked it up and noticed it had been sewn together, and not the greatest either. I glanced over and picked her hand up, and noticed the small red dots on her fingers. She had sown this herself, probably during one of those weeks I had to leave for military drills. I gently tucked in next to her and kissed her head before returning to my research. Coulson made me practice on this dumb thing so much that I was actually pretty decent at it. I started to search up Greek mythology, she could find out anything she wanted to and I wanted to have the same resources. I started reading up on anything on Athena, all her ticks, past stories, lovers, achievements, frights, anything that I could think of that she could look up about me in my file. I started to put them into her own file on my laptop. This process continued until I had filled out 12 files of the Olympians. Glancing over at the clock, it read 6:52 am and she was now turned with her nose buried in my rib cage. For only knowing her for about 2 months or so, I was very attached and protective of her. I began researching on some other topics until my yawning became more and more frequent so I shut the metallic machine and sat it down on the floor, this of course woke her up a little.  
“Steve?” She yawned lifting her head up still trying to wake up. I rolled back over and scooted is up the bed.  
“Go back to sleep, I had to go to the bathroom” I whispered laying an arm over her and kissing her head. She yawned again and laid back down with her face buried in my chest, doll still tucked between us.  
I stared out the window at the street lights giving just enough light to show the snow dancing towards the ground. I yawned again and closed my eyes hoping sleep would come fast before Coulson or Fury called us in for paper work. We never really got a lot of these days, where we actually bonded, we flirted yes but it was never letting me spend time with her in her bed and just sleep. That was a major change for me, I never had time to just sleep. I was always running around killing or shooting something so breaks of just sleep weren’t normal. My cellphone started to ring and it woke up Athena again. I got up and walked into my room and over to my phone in my pants and answered it.  
“Rogers, good morning” Fury commented in a less than happy voice.  
“Morning, need something?” I asked leaning against the door so I could see into her room.  
“Baby sitting and socializing” He finished and I crossed my arm across my chest and held onto my other arm.  
“Socializing?” I questioned watching her wave at me, which I returned the wave.  
“I need you and Athena to socialize with New York. You and Tony are the best hope to improve people’s opinions on heroes and SHIELD especially. They see you two out and about being normal, they wont be so scared of you guys. “ Fury finished.  
“Who’s idea was this?” I questioned watching her.  
“Coulson. He figured you needed a break with your new girlfriend.” Fury chuckled.  
“Are we meeting up with Mr. Stark?” I questioned still angry at him for New York.  
“That’s up to you and if Stark decides to get out of his garage. Enjoy your weekend” Fury hung up the phone and I walked back into her room. She was sitting her with the doll laying on her pillow.  
“I ‘m assuming we have to go into work now” She sighed until I laid back down in bed.  
“No, Fury and Coulson decided that we needed to socialize with the public so we have the weekend to ourselves.” I answered and a smile appeared on her face.  
“Well guess where we are going first?” She smiled laying down with me, our noses touching.  
“Where?” I questioned kissing her, getting the same action back.  
“Clothes shopping for you.” She smiled and I furrowed my eyebrows together.  
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” I questioned and she giggled a little.  
“You mean the tight clothes that are too thin for winter time?” She asked tugging on my shirt.  
“Fine, but no stupid patterns” I muttered through my teeth.  
“Then you can’t say no to anything I make you try on” She smiled proudly. I sighed very dramatically.  
“But then I’m taking you on a carriage ride around New York” I smiled proudly since a fact of Athena was how much she loved horses. She tried to hide it sometimes but anytime we seen a horse around, she stared in awe.  
“I guess I can’t say no to that” She giggled.  
“How about we lay around till noon then get up and become productive?” I offered and she buried her face back in my chest, clearly displaying her answer.


	7. The Weapon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Action Finally!

Athena’s POV  
I know you are probably tired of hearing it, but he was literally the perfect man. Every door was opened, every chair pulled out, every car door opened first. Don’t even get me started on the horse and carriage ride. If I didn’t already feel like a princess walking around with him, that just sealed the deal. He was everything a girl could ask for, but the best part was all his quirkiness and he was surprisingly playful. We had to get over people giving him odd looks, I tried to dress him in the most normal clothes but I guess his identity was stolen from him since New York. The first stop was a shop I had heard about from some female friends who recommend going there with a male partner. The best part was watching him not know how to handle being touched by a girl while getting dressed and fitted. After purchasing some stuff for him, we proceeded to the coffee shop and ordered hot chocolate and muffins together. He watched little kids run by with his shield plastered on everything they owned. He loved it. I could tell because he smiled so big and goofy when they recognized him and ran over arms held out wide. Some girls walked by and gave the same looks, Steve just made sure to lean over and kiss me until they left. He was a smart ass, and knew how to tick off these stuck up girls.  
“What happens when a guy gives me a look?” I questioned holding his hand as we walked towards the waterfront. He sipped on the hot chocolate and look around.  
“Which guy is?” He growled. I giggled and pulled him forwards.  
“No one. I was just curious how you would act but clearly I can see how that is going to go down” I smiled sitting on the bench facing the pretty, sparkling water. It had a cool breeze off the water and I scooted next to him and an arm quickly wrapped around.  
“I think we did a pretty good job of socializing” He proudly smiled watching the water.  
“I think so too. You were a treat for those little kids” I smiled watching a few of them run around over my shoulder.  
“I like kids.” He shrugged.  
“I can tell, you always seem to be a big hit with them” I smiled watching a couple walk towards us.  
“That’s Stark and Pepper. Would you like to stay and chat or ahead home?” He offered and I glanced down at them.  
“I kind of just want to head home” I sighed and he stood up and held out a hand.  
“Stark gets on my nerves sometimes.” Steve mumbled as we walked down the waterfront and headed towards the apartment.  
“Well today was just enough walking for my foot.” I mumbled the pain finally hitting my ankle. The doctor gave me a boot to wear so I could walk around, but after awhile pain started to seep in. He held my hand as we walked towards the apartment.  
“You are relaxing for the rest of the day” He ordered and I chose not to argue with him on it. I smiled as it started to snow again as we got to our gates to go in. I let Steve clear us since I just gave him my ID to make it easier coming in.  
“The snow is so pretty” I commented as we arrived at the stairs to our apartment. He shoved his wallet back in his back pocket and rubbed his hands together.  
“Ready to be carried?” He smiled and I nodded as he picked me up and carried me up the stairs.  
“I have one request for you” I asked as he sat me down in the carpeted part of our apartment.  
“I have an answer for you” He smiled taking off his jacket while I took my one shoe off and my jacket. I handed it to him which he hung up in the closet.  
“Can you stay with me in my bed again?” I asked almost ashamed that I actually wanted him that close. He smiled and kissed me.  
“I’d be honored” He smiled as I tried to head towards the kitchen to cook.  
“What sounds good to you for dinner?” I asked getting something to drink for myself. He walked in and picked me up and set me on the counter.  
“What’s easy?” He asked. I thought about it for a minute.  
“We can put a frozen pizza in. Is that easy?” I asked pushing the hair out of his face.  
“Yes that is.” He smiled as he got one of the sausage pizzas out and put it on the pan and heated the oven up. He picked me back up again and carried me to the living room and set me down on the couch.  
“I can walk around in the house” I giggled taking off my boot and tossing it by the front door.  
“But you like it when I carry you around.” He smiled getting us drinks out and plates. For being a guy who never used an oven, he was a chef at it.  
“But I don’t like being a burden to you” I answered I could hear him sigh a little.  
“You are not a burden, quit thinking like that” He firmly said walking back in with both of our drinks. The oven beeped and I could hear him put the pizza in.  
~~~~~~~~~  
“Hey Athena?” I heard Steve whisper as we laid in the bed, his fingers playing with strands of my brown hair.  
“Yes Steve?” I asked having my eyes closed already at this point.  
“Can you sing that song again?” He said even softer. I turned over and smiled at him.  
“Did it help you?” I asked dragging my finger over his face lightly. He nodded and yawned.  
“How did you know that it would help?” He asked yawning again.  
“Because I used to have really bad flashbacks when I first became Athena. I was having flashbacks of what really happened to Athena, and as a 5 year old, it scared me. So my grandmother would lay with me in bed and sing that song and do this” I smiled running my fingers over his face more as his eyes got heavier and heavier.  
“What was the song about?” He asked his eyes completely closed now.  
“Its about lambs and baby goats and Nani is a term for endearment.” I smiled humming the tune.  
“You have a beautiful singing voice” He smiled and I kissed him for his nice little compliment.  
“Well thank you” I smiled continuing to trace an imaginary shape on his face. I was already having some problems laying this close to him because was shirtless. Oh yes, completely shirtless with all those muscles that were perfectly sculpted like a Greek god sculpted them. Just a heads up here: they did. I slowly drifted my tracing down his neck and over his pecs. Little tiny goose bumps started appearing in different spots, which changed my tracing patterns to wear they returned to his face. I started singing the song softer than last night since I was almost positive he was asleep but he wanted to hear the song so I sang it for him. Artemis appear in the moonlight, a large book in hand. I held a finger up to my lips signaling that she needed to stay quiet.  
“You let a man sleep in your bed?” She growled softly and I nodded.  
“He’s the best teddy bear a girl could ask for” I smiled kissing him again.  
“Here, Apollo told me to bring this to you. He said something about memories?” She questioned sitting the black book on the shelf so it blended in.  
“Thanks for bringing it. Now please leave before you wake him up.” I growled back and she glared before disappearing in the moonlight. I laid back down tucked into his chest as I kept singing the song until I fell asleep myself.  
Steve woke me up some time later to check my concussion, after he concluded that I was fine, we both had to take a bathroom break. I got back to bed before he did until he picked me up and sat me on my chair.  
“This bed is crooked some how” He growled in his groggy, sleepy voice. He picked the mattress up and pulled out a stack of books that had made it crooked. He placed them on the shelf.  
“Mystery solved” I yawned big as he came over and picked me up again and sat me on my spot in the bed.  
“I kept thinking you were pushing me but nope gravity was” He mumbled laying back down next to me. I fixed the sheets so if was back in order after he tossed them off to go to the bathroom. Steve had always been like this since I knew him. He couldn’t sleep for long hours at a time. Not sure if being frozen had something to do with it or if he possibly had post-traumatic stress disorder and that lack of sleep just so happened to be a symptom of it.  
“Thanks for fixing my bed” I yawned shivering up next to him causing an arm to wrap around me.  
“Would you like to know a trick my mom used to do to me when I couldn’t sleep?” He smiled sleepily clearly trying to fight the sleep he so desperately needed.  
“How?” I asked already having my eyes closed.  
“She would hold me super tight until I fell asleep” He smiled wrapping both arms around me and pulling me on top. I smiled and laid my head down on his chest and relaxed.  
“Don’t let me roll off” I joked and he nodded.  
“I don’t think you will” He smiled pulling me back down towards the corner and yawning.  
“Good night” I smiled leaning over for a kiss which of course he gave me one.  
“Good night princess” He yawned bigger and relaxed. Literally with him you can see the relaxation ripple through him. I kept dragging my finger lightly over his chest until I couldn’t force my finger to move anymore, darkness had over won the battle for sleep.  
~~~~~  
“Athena, wake up, someone is here for you” Steve whispered shaking me. I sat up and blinked at him curious.  
“What are their names?” I asked and he just shrugged, I was worried it was the Greeks in human form. I pull on a jacket and pajama pants and walked out to the living room with Steve’s help, my ankle was extreme sensitive today from yesterday’s walking.  
“Athena, Ares died” Apollo announced, dressed as a skater boy with Hera next to him dressed a lawyer of some kind.  
“How?” I questioned.  
“Gaia murdered him” My heart sank to my stomach and I leaned against Steve. His big strong arm kept wrapped around me.  
“You know what happens now” Hera sighed and looked at Steve.  
“Hello Steve, I’m Apollo: God of Music and the Sun” Apollo commented holding out a hand to shake which Steve did. Hera followed the same introductory and Steve stood silent.  
“What do you need me for?” He asked knowing it was about him already.  
“Ares has chosen you as his heir” Hera announced. Steve stood silent again.  
“Why? I’m not Greek like Athena” Steve questioned again.  
“It doesn’t matter. Athena wasn’t originally Greek either. She was chosen by her grandmother, a former Athena, to take on the new role. Just as you have been chosen” Hera explained and Steve looked at me.  
“I’m not sure I follow” Steve whispered and I sighed.  
“Just accept it, I’ll explain everything once they leave” I whisper back and he nodded.  
“Do you accept?” Apollo questioned.  
“I accept” Steve nodded still unsure of the whole situation. Hera walked forward and placed a hand on his right pec and I knew what she was doing. She was giving him the mark of Ares. A tattoo all Greeks were given when they were chosen, of course the design of the tattoo depended on which heir they were taking. I watch Steve close his eyes tight as the pain from the sharp burn hit him. I reached out and held his hand until she was done.  
“Welcome to the Olympians, Ares.” Hera smiled handing him the golden Trojan war helmet, a golden shield, his pure snow white tunic, golden laced up sandals, and sword with a shield.  
“Wow….” He uttered looking himself over as he changed to fit the typical Greek warrior.  
“You look really good” I smiled watching Apollo and Hera disappear in front of us. He continued to look himself over and I just sat that giggling.  
“Where’s your outfit?” He asked standing there proud of his outfit. I walked to my room and found my spear and hit the floor with it as my own armor very similar to his came over.  
“We do look like a little couple” I commented walking over as he walked over and kissed me. It almost happened until our helmets hit each other.  
“Not in these outfits.” I smiled hitting the floor again with my spear as my pajama’s came back on.  
“How do I fix me?” He asked.  
“Bang your sword on your shield” I explained and he did as told.  
“Where do you put yours?” He asked and I gestured him to follow me to the hidden closet behind my bookshelf where I stored his shield and sword with my spear.  
“Just in case someone were to come in.” I explain sitting back down on the bed. Just as he sits down next to me his phone rings.  
“Darn it” He growls getting up and walking over to his phone. After answering it I listened into his conversation with Fury about a new costume.  
“The Russians are at us again?” Steve asked crossing his arms after his phone call ended.  
“Apparently. They have a new ‘weapon’ they keep threatening us with” I explained  
“Coulson has a new costume for me to try on but I told him I would tomorrow. I want to know everything I can about this Greek stuff” Steve announced coming over to lay on the bed. I laid down next to him. This is what I told him.  
Long time ago when the Romans and Greek were fighting, the Greeks wanted to save their beloved religion and so the first Zeus decided that the power of the Greek gods would be passed down through generations and death. Every god and goddess chose their first heir and an angel to over watch them for their life. As the generations were passed down, people chose to either live for another generation. After two generations, they were killed in a freak accident and the power was passed down to someone with Greek blood. Any feelings towards another God or Goddess stayed the same. Past memories of the first Greek gods or goddess stayed in everyone’s memories. But the previous heir’s memories were never in tact. If a Greek god or goddess died in some way shape or form Apollo and Hera would travel to their successor and tell them this same story. Now some of you may be asking what happens if a god or goddess had children. With a human: the child was given some mark of Greek heritage but never had any traits. Now if a god and goddess were to have a child, just like the tale of Hercules, the child gained immortality. As I told Steve this same story, his eyes were wide with knowledge as he paid very close attention. I gently ran my fingers through his hair as something to keep me busy as I talked.  
“Wow, that’s a lot” He sighed holding my hand.  
“Yeah I probably forgot some stuff but forgive me” I smiled relaxing on our bed.  
“You are forgiven” He mumbled against the pillows he had hid his face in.  
“Can…you talk to me about your past?” I asked curling up to his side as he laid on his belly. His head lifted up and he stared at me.  
“You really want to know what happened?” He asked scooting closer.  
“It’s only fair. I’ve told you a lot about my past” I smiled trying to get him to break and just tell me.  
“Promise me, you will never judge me for what happened back then” He sighed scooting as close to me as he could. I rubbed his cheek lightly and stared directly into his eyes.  
“You were a perfect soldier. You did you duties, I can not be angry at you for following orders. I will never ever judge you for what you did. You are my boyfriend and I…love you for who you are” I finally squeezed out. I knew things in my stomach were telling me to hate this man, that he was a vicious fighter who only went for blood. But after spending so much time with him, and watching him rediscover himself and how to operate around a girl. I couldn’t stop myself from falling madly in love with him. And I’m sure had he been with any other girl he would have acted the same, but he is the only man in the world who I have sang to.  
“I love you for who you are” He smiled leaning over me to kiss me but clearly his intentions and actions led onto something more than just kissing.  
~~~~~~~Steve’s POV~~~~~  
“Rogers, your new costume has arrived.” Fury joked as Athena sat next to me drawing in one of my sketch books. I stood up fixing my original Captain America suit that I still possessed. I glanced over my shoulder at her and she stood up to follow our group of four into the original location of this suit. Hanging up was a black version of this costume. Instead of the traditional stars and stripes, it was one single star in the center of my chest with three bands connecting to the star but leaving enough room between them and the star to emphasize its importance. It was clearly built for someone large, buff, and powerful. I was set up very similar to this one except everything was either black or silver.  
“What do you think?” Coulson asked stopping our group to stare at it.  
“I like it. Less old fashioned” I smiled looking it over. Finally, this was the last peace of me that reminded me of what happened back then. Everything me and Athena have been doing was shaped around getting me out of that 1940s mind set. And this was the last piece of that puzzle, finally it was brand new suit to finish that change process.  
“I think he’ll look pretty scary in it” I knew what Athena met. No one knew of our relationship and we intended to keep it that way.  
“Captain, if you haven’t figured this out already, the world is full of liars. People itching to wipe out one of the biggest American icon. The living legend. The suit is designed to keep you silent but deadly. No longer the bright blue, white, and red. Your shield has even been recolored to fit this suit’s design.  
“I agree” I commented glancing at Athena who smiled clearly wanting to see it on me.  
“Your first mission is to discover what is going on with Russia. There new ‘weapon’ is flying in tonight at midnight. Kidnap him and bring him to SHIELD. I’m sure you can fulfill this mission.” Fury announced.  
“Can I have a team?” I questioned already creating a team in my head.  
“Fair enough, Captain. Name your team” Fury waited.  
“Denecour, Barton, Romanoff, and Coulson” I finished seeing Coulson’s eyes light up. Fury nodded and held his hands behind his back.  
“You will leave for JFK international airport. Please keep your phones on so we can retrieve you” Coulson finished explaining. I reached out and grabbed my costume and gear. I turned towards Athena who’s ankle was doing much better. No more carrying, just pain killers every few hours and she could run with me. We both headed towards my motorcycle waiting in the garage down below with all the other black SHIELD cars. After we returned home she went and picked up her suit and got her gear laid out.  
“Scared?” I questioned and she shook her head.  
“I’m going on a mission with the best soldier out there. What’s their to be afraid of?” She smiled confidently and I nodded.  
“I wonder what the new weapon is” I asked walking to the kitchen and retrieving the unfinished bear from earlier. She walked over and took it out of my hands.  
“No drinking until after the mission. The last thing we need is a drunk Captain who can’t shoot” She growled carrying it back to the fridge and putting it back in.  
“Are you going to be okay with Romanoff?” I asked sitting down on the couch.  
“As long as she stays away from the front of my gun, we’ll be fine” She smiled coming over next to me and sitting down.  
“What happened between the two of you?” I questioned tired of playing referee between the two ladies.  
“She gives me crap for being half German. She had a deep hatred for it and she never lets it go. Plus she’s not to happy that me and Barton dated and still are really good friends.” She explained and my jaw dropped.  
“You and Barton dated? When?” I questioned. She laughed seeing my aggressiveness come out.  
“Oh long time ago, back at academy. It was really short because he left to go on a mission in Budapest and came back holding hands with her so I moved on” She explained again shrugging it off.  
“Did you two ….do anything?” I asked and she shook her head.  
“No, we kissed a few times but it never really clicked” She finished and I nodded satisfied with that.  
“So I was the first one …in bed?” I questioned hoping it was a mutual thing.  
“Yes you were. My first ever” She nodded blushing a little. Our experience wasn’t as bad as you think it was. It was awkward at first then it became natural. Clearly we both enjoyed it.  
“Well I’m glad. Now we should probably sleep before the mission so we aren’t tired” I commented and she nodded. We both set our phones to an alarm at 10 pm. I laid down on the couch and pulled her onto my chest to let her use it as a pillow. She relaxed as we pulled the blanket off the couch and covered us up.  
“If we make it through tonight’s mission. Tomorrow is our day off.” She mumbled closing her eyes and controlling her breath to a normal level. I nodded my head completely agreeing with her on that subject.  
“Get some sleep” I whispered closing my own eyes.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Step. Step. Step. Hold. This was frequent pattern as we snuck outside the airport and over to the plane number Fury had given us. He was keeping a close eye on us from a bird’s eye view.  
“Rogers” Barton whispered to me as I was watching the ‘weapons’ plane roll in. I glanced over my shoulder at him.  
“What ?” I hissed and he pointed to the guards standing in the windows above us. I nodded and moved more towards the shadows so we were seen. It was me the Barton followed by Athena and then of course Romanoff. I hated putting those two side by side but I knew they would keep our backs covered together. We watched as the red plane landed and started to unload its passengers onto the tarmac. I listened for Fury to give us the signal for who was this weapon he kept talking about. Sure enough a man with long shaggy brown hair and one arm that seemed to be covered in silver metal stepped off the plane and Fury gave us the signal. I sent the girls in since they were a little more talented at yanking the security guards away from the man. Barton and I sat back and watched as guards were yanked from their feet and snapped into the darkness. The first four disappeared without alerting any of the others. Nice work ladies. As the guards got closer to the metal man they started to notice their friends disappearing around them. They all stated to stand ground but two of the four men with guns disappeared and the remaining two aimed their guns. It could be deadly for both sides if they shot. Airplane fuel tanks were sitting everywhere and with a spark could set off multiple explosions and lots of deaths. Then Russia would have started a war with America. The Cold War would finally begin. The girls appeared next to us leaving them men scared and nervous, which is exactly how you want them. Athena knocked out the power with the wired remote she had set up upon arriving to the airport. Now they were scared, nervous, practically blind, and stupidly curious to walk towards our direction. The four of us spread back out and the three of them took out the remaining guards as I threw my shield at the metal man. I stood in shock as he caught it and smiled at me.  
“Steve Rogers, long time no see. How are you?” The man grinned his teeth crooked in certain spots. He tossed my shield back and I quickly strapped it on my arm for protection. He started to walk closer.  
“Who are you?” I growled as I could see the figures of Romanoff and Athena behind him.  
“Call down your guard. I can hear them breathing behind me” He ordered turning towards Athena.  
“They aren’t my guard anything. They are soldiers willing to defend their country from men like you” I growled not understanding the name he called them but from context clues and the looks on Romanoff and Athena’s faces, it was a major insult to their characters.  
“They are sure pretty. Which one do you take to bed with you at night Rogers?” The man asked walking close to Athena but a fist shot out and hit him in the nose. He backed up and put his hand up to his nose seeing blood start to drip out. He went to swing at the spot where she had been but she had disappeared again.  
“That’s the one. She’s feisty. Just like Peggy” The man laughed letting his nose bleed out.  
“Who are you?!” I ordered walking closer.  
“You don’t recognize me Steve? Good ole Bucky?” He laughed spreading his arms. I stood their watching him not believing any word coming out of his mouth. Bucky would never go after a girl, especially a pretty one like Athena. Nor would he even attempt to call a women a name, he was raised better than that. I would know, he grew up right next door to me.  
“Bucky? You aren’t Bucky. Bucky was a better man than you are” I growled hitting him in the stomach this time with my shield. It made contact enough to push him back. He fell on his back but quickly was back up again pulling a gun at me and shooting at me, clearly he didn’t remember what my shield was capable of. I watched as Barton jumped down and knocked the gun out of his hand. Followed by Athena hand cuffing him and Romanoff holding his legs down. I walked over standing above him as they buckled him down to two sets of handcuffs and ankle bracelets. He spat at me and it hit my star. I wiped it off with my sleeve and leaned down closer to him.  
“And just an FYI, these guards happened to be my closest friends and they just beat the crap out of you. Sleep tight” I reached back and nailed him in the nose, doing enough damage to knock him out and into a bloody mess.  
“Call Fury and let him know what happened” Athena ordered standing up and helping Romanoff up. For the time being they were at a truce. I hit the head piece in my ear and it called Fury for me.  
“Give me the good news” Fury ordered.  
“Weapon is contained and hand cuff” I replied as Coulson appeared with the black SUV we were oh so familiar with.  
“What’s the bad news?” Fury questioned as I picked up Bucky and tossed him in the trunk.  
“The girls knocked his ass out” I smiled wanting one of them to take the victory for this mission. I could hear Fury laughing on the other end of the call.  
“Bring him here until he wakes up.” Fury ordered and I nodded as we traveled back to SHIELD base.


	8. Presents from the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a sad chapter with a nice ending.

“You did really good” Athena smiled giving me a kiss as the black SUV disappeared from our drive way.  
“Oh and you don’t think you did a great job?” I smiled as we walked up the stairs and I unlocked the door.  
“Go change into something, 40s like. I have a present for you” She smiled. At this point it was around 9 am since we spent a lot of time at SHIELD HQ. I looked at her funny as we walked inside and got changed. After getting a bite to eat, she directed me to a nursing home out in the beautiful part of New York City. We parked the bike and walked in. I hated these places, they constantly reminded me of my true age. I was 92 years old. But did I look it? Nope, so these places only brought it back to mind. I followed Athena to a door that was painted a fresh color of blue. Athena knocked and then opened the door and held my hand. We walked in to find a lady reading in her wheel chair by the window.  
“Mrs. Carter?” Athena asked in such a soft voice I almost couldn’t believe it was her. The woman in the wheel chair looked up at her than at me.  
“Hello there, they said I would have two visitors come visit me today. You must be Ms. Denecour I spoke to on the phone with.” The woman smiled and then we made eye contact. It was Peggy. True blue Peggy, she looked exactly like she did but everything was just a little faded. Like a photograph that has been passed around to much.  
“Yes I am. Peggy…this is Steve Rogers. Steve…this is Peggy” Athena smiled sitting down in a chair as I kept my distance unsure of how to talk to her.  
“Steve…what a nice strong name. I knew a man long time ago that had that strong name. He was such a hero…but I can’t remember what happened to him. You look a lot like him” I wanted to break down and cry. She doesn’t remember what happened, that pain was gone. Athena got up and pulled up a chair behind me so I could sit.  
“I …I …um. Hi there Peggy. Its nice to meet you” I held onto my thumbs for comfort. She smiled softly again.  
“I’m just an old lady sweetie. Don’t be scared to talk to me” She laughed, her crow’s feet slightly showing up on her face. Silver curls bounced around her face as she laughed.  
“He gets nervous around any ladies he doesn’t know” Athena commented as I sat there in silence. I honestly had no idea what to do in this situation. I thought she died before I came back from the frozen world. Apparently she had lived into a ripe old age of 94.  
“He’s a very handsome man. He must be in the army, he looks like they could use him a lot. In fact he looks a lot like that Captain guy on the news I see all the time. Have you seen those reports?” Peggy asked Athena. Small talk continued like this for hours until Peggy started to fall asleep. Athena called in a nurse and she took my hand as we walked out of the nursing home.  
“Th …thank you” I mumbled as we arrived back at our apartment. As soon as I sat down on her bed, I started to cry. And it wasn’t just like a little cry, it was the Niagara falls in tears. Athena walked over and hugged me the best she could. I just cried. And I know what you are thinking, what a cry baby he’s crying. He’s big old Captain America, he’s not suppose to cry. But everything just broke loose. Athena started to sing her song again in my ear softly as fingers ran through my hair. I just let it out. There was no stopping the flood of tears until I had no more tears to cry. Then it was just a bunch of sniffles and wipes of the eyes like there was tears there.  
“Just let it all out Steve” Athena cooed as she kept singing the song. I finally stopped and stood up to shake it off. I took off my shoes, jacket, and changed into shorts before walking back over to her bed and laying down in it.  
“I needed that” I mumbled through sniffs as she changed herself and crawled into bed with me. She turned off the lights and laid with her head on my chest.  
“I’m glad you got to experience that. She can’t remember any of that pain she felt. Be happy for that” Athena commented and I nodded.  
“I think I owe you some big thank you’s later on.” I tried to smile but only a little one got forced on my face. She seen me struggling with that much and she started tracing her pattern on my face again.  
“You owe me nothing. Just get some sleep, you've earned it” She smiled as the song started up again. I held her finger and kissed it before leaning over her.  
“I’m going to give you the same treatment.” I smiled letting my finger drag gently across her face. She yawned until I could tell she had finally let sleep win over. I took one more big sigh and then laid down next to her and I let sleep catch me too.  
~~~~~~Athena’s POV~~~~~  
I awoke to Steve crying again so I sat up quickly and pulled him back down into my chest shushing him softly and singing my song again. He cried into my chest and squeezed me a little to hard. Either his post traumatic stress disorder had kicked in or he was just having bad nightmares about what happened at the nursing home. I felt a little bad for taking him to that without a fair warning of what he was about to encounter. I thought if he met up with Peggy and seen that she had not been angry with him over what had happened back then that he could finally take that last and final step into the new century he was pushed into. Apparently I was wrong, and apparently it had dramatically scared him forever.  
“I had ….a nightmare ….about you” He announced between sniffles. Eventually with enough singing, playing with his hair, and tracing an imaginary pattern on his face, he had calmed down enough to talk to me about what he had encountered in his dream.  
“What happened Steve?” I asked still tracing his face gently. He took a deep breath.  
“I dreamed that Bucky killed you and left your body on my doorstep” He answered still scared from the dream.  
“Well relax, I’m not dead. And I would never let Bucky kill me. Want to know why? Because you do a fantastic job of protecting me. “ I smiled and he relaxed a little more.  
“You’re right, I wouldn’t” He sighed closing his eyes as I started singing again, that seemed to keep him content because he fell asleep. Thanks to our weird mission we had slept through most of the night and decided that the bed was the place we were going to stay for the rest of the night. I got up to cook a little bit of noodles for us and brought him that beer he had attempted to drank earlier. I had picked one up for myself as we turned on the TV in my room and watched the Princess Bride together for the 20th time. He seemed just happy to be relaxing without shooting at something. I sat our bowls on the floor and laid against him with my head on his shoulder as he watched some old documentary on weapons. I lost track and just enjoyed the steady rhythm of his breathing and his heart beat.  
“That’s so cool” I can’t even count how many times I heard him mumble that or my other favorite one “I would love to shoot that” I giggled every now and then and I would get a peck on the cheek before his eyes were once again glued to the TV.  
“The show is pretty interesting isn't it?” Steve chuckled seeing as my eyes were closed and my hands resting under him for the warmth.  
“Totally” I joked clearly not even knowing what the show was discussing now. The news came on, interrupting his show to announce that a winter storm warning was in affect for us and that we should stay inside due to the fringed weather. I didn’t even have to ask Steve he knew more days would be spent in our apartment just like this.  
“Fury can’t make us get out of our apartment right?” Steve asked. I laughed a little and shook my head.  
“Not if we use the winter weather advisory to our advantage. We are the ones with the bike so therefor we shouldn’t be out on the roads.” I offered as I heard Steve set his beer down on the floor near our bowls and lay down on his back.  
“Well good, that means we can sleep and be lazy.” Steve smiled peaking out the window at the large snow flakes sticking to the window and onto the streets below us.  
“I love winter time” I whispered curling up to him more. He had on the long sleeved blue shirt that I just adored because it showed off all of his muscles. He pulled me underneath of him and proceeded to leave marks on my neck and kissed me.  
“I love you.” He smiled kissing me again and again until I could utter out the same words back to him.  
“I love you too. What’s with all the kisses?” I giggled yawning big again before his lips were against mine again.  
“I just like kissing you. Is there a problem with that?” He asked covering me in more kisses.  
“Nope not at all.” I giggle and he chuckled until I started shivering from staying near the window.  
“We should probably get out the electric blankets before it gets to cold. “ He announced sitting up. I hopped up with him and pull one lay of the sheets back and waited for him to bring them in. He walked back in tangled in cords until I could help him untie them and lay the blanket out on top of the sheets. I pulled the comforter back over and we both checked to see if it was on. Bathroom breaks and door and windows locking soon followed. Lights got shut off, dishwasher was started, bowls and empty beer glasses were put where they belonged. I shut off the TV and climbed into bed and into my spot in the corner waiting for Steve to come over. Finally he emerged, shirt off and in his boxers like usual. He shut the door until only a crack was left just in case something was to happen. He came over and I noticed his Ares tattoo glowing a little. Clearly his powers were building up the longer he was Ares. The battle with the metal man only made them stronger since it was hand to hand combat where blood was spilled. That was the true roots of that power, any time the holder of the power participated in an event related to their Greek of choice, it made them ten times stronger in that event. With mine it was planning, I was good at it thanks to being Athena.  
“Ready for bed?” Steve asked sliding into bed and turning off the bed side lamp and adjusting the blankets over us.  
“I shouldn’t be, we did just sleep all day after that mission. But once again, I’m yawning” I yawned big and he smiled watching.  
“But I kept waking you up from all my crying” I covered his mouth and stared at him.  
“No do not pull that card on me. Its my job to comfort you. I was more than happy to sit there and help you through what ever experience you were going through last night. And if it happens again tonight, guess what? I’ll wake up and sing to you then too” I explained and uncovered his mouth. He nodded his head understanding.  
“Yes ma’am” He smiled pulling me close to him again for comfort.  
“Would you like for me to sing again?” I asked and I seen him nod his head.  
“It helps” He mumbled already having his eyes closed.  
“English or Greek?” I offered starting the tracing pattern again.  
“Greek, it sounds prettier” He mumbled again as I started to sing. He was doing better than he was the first day I met him. I didn’t want to think I was the cause of his sudden change and adaptation to the new century but I probably was. He had grown so accustomed to the TV, laptop, cellphone, New York City its self, that I had to spoil him with these little things that helped him sleep. When we first met he was bent on never sleeping again but clearly his body needed and sometimes I needed him to sleep. Because if he didn’t sleep, he started doing projects around the house at 3 am. Those were the nights were I wanted to freeze him up again. But generally all the projects his started were finished pretty fast and looked fantastic. He repainted a lot of the living room, his room, and while I was at work he painted my room. Not sure how he figured out the exact color that I wanted it, but he did. You know of the first night he slept in my bed, but the best memory is of me actually falling off the bed. Apparently he heard me roll of and came into the room to make sure I was okay, only to find me on the floor asleep. He went and grabbed some blankets and a pillow. He picked me up, put me back on my bed, and laid down on the floor so if I fell it was on him and not the hard floor. How could you not love that in a man? Like he was risking his own safety to make sure I didn’t fall on the floor again. From then on he pretty much slept either on the floor or with me. He only ever used his room to do research when I was busy or to hide when shark week rolled around each month. With shark week, he was prince charming there too. I have sent him out a few times for tampons and he’s always returned with the correct ones plus some sort of chocolate in hand. Of course he had his flaws to, his sleeping problems being a major one but he was very picky about how people treated me out and public and it took me a while to understand that he was a living trash can. If I didn’t finish something on my plate, say some corn, he would finish it for me. Rarely did we ever have to use the garbage disposal. So yes he had his flaws, but he was my prince charming with some scratches in his shield.  
I woke up late to him coming in the front door after shoveling snow. I got up and brought him a blanket and started up some coffee for the both of us. He was rubbing his hands together trying to keep warm. I walked back over after the coffee had heated up and placed it in his hands. He smiled sipping the drink as he turned on the TV. Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four was chatting on about something scientific again. I walked into his room to get him some warmer pants and shirt.  
“Athena, come here!” Steve called out, I grabbed the shirt I had picked out and walked out to the living room.  
“What is it Steve?” I asked glancing at the TV. The report did his lack of words justice. Apparently, Reed was able to bring over other heroes from another world. He had created the technology to link worlds together. A man dressed in a black bat suit followed by a broad figure with a ‘S’ on his chest and a man clad in green with a lantern figure on his chest. The first two were shaped a lot like Steve. They were a lot like us but Reed said they could only visit for short amounts of time since the machine took so much power to operate.  
“Welcome to our world Batman” Reed smiled greeting each of the heroes.  
“This could be so helpful” I commented glancing over at Steve who nodded. I folded up the shirt in his hand and he tried to swipe it back from me.  
“More reinforcements are always helpful” He kept drinking his coffee.  
“I want to meet them.” I mumbled looking those three over more and more. These were other heroes, from a different world who were going through the same thing as Steve and the Avengers were. In my logic, the more heroes the better but once again the machine caused a problem.  
“You don’t think …. they’ll come back and hurt us right?” Steve questioned as I sat down next to him. I shrugged sighing a little. From how they were standing and how they were acting around the other heroes, I can only hope that their mission was the same as ours. Save the people from forces that can’t protect themselves from.  
“I don’t know why. They are heroes. They are suppose to be the ideal human. No clue why they would turn on us” He nodded though still concerned by the look of his face.  
“Thanks for the coffee. There is a lot of snow out there” He smiled drinking the last big gulp of his coffee. This man drank at least six to eight cups of coffee a day. He said his metabolism just processed coffee fast, I think he just found the coffee maker fascinating.  
“You’re welcome. That’s what I’ve seen. Lots of snow for big men to go out and shovel” I teased poking his giant biceps. He worked out constantly so shoveling was just a new exercise. Maybe his metabolism was fast because he always ate a lot when I fixed dinner. And I don’t think its because my cooking is that fantastic…. no matter how many times he’s said it. If I were to make dinner of hamburgers for example. I could eat one maybe one and a half. He could down three no questioned asked. Plus some fries or macaroni or some other side plus two drinks of whatever he wanted. I had no problem making him food but he ate like a horse.  
“So I was thinking” He finally announced leaning back into the couch and looking at me.  
“What where you thinking about?” I asked leaning against the arm of the couch with my legs over his lap. He bit his lower lip before looking at me. Clearly what ever he was going to ask me was something he had been working on for months.  
“Let’s get a house” He finally said after a minute or so of silence.  
“A house? But we have an apartment together.” I added not following his train of thought. He shook his head.  
“No… we have a holding cell together. Do you know that there is a microphone behind our light switches?” He questioned pointing to the nearest one.  
“No way…” I yelped, that means they have heard everything. And I mean everything. All the stupid fights, all the rude comments towards other agents, and even us poking fun at Fury.  
“Yeah. I was changing out that broken light switch in the bathroom yesterday and found it. So then I went around looking for them” He almost growled. He was my handy dandy ‘fix this please’ guy. If anything appeared to have a problem he was on it in a heartbeat. I tried to tell him that I COULD fix things. I wasn’t some damsel in distress that he made me feel like sometimes. I could fix a toilet, well if I looked it up I’m sure I could. But no, he said it was a man’s job to keep the house up in running. Here’s even the funnier part, we had a mechanic on call here twenty four seven, but Steve wouldn’t allow for him to come in and fix things. He wanted to do it himself, and he was always flashed a proud smile when I commented on something that he had fixed. I guess it was just something that he knew he could do. That’s what a lot of the things he did now a days stood for. He wanted to be normal. He hated being addressed as Captain America when we were out and about. He just wanted to be Steve Rogers, a normal guy who lived in a normal apartment, with a normal job. I couldn’t really blame him either.  
“Now I see why you would want to get a house” I smiled and he nodded.  
“But we can only talk about the house when we aren’t here. Just in case SOMEBODY is listening to us or watching us.” Steve yelled.  
“Are the roads bad out today?” I asked, he shrugged a little.  
“Its slushy out. If we take your car it shouldn’t be to bad” He explained.  
“Put your coat back on. Let’s go exploring” I offered walking to my room.  
“How about we just take a cab? I’m worried about the cars being bugged” Steve announced as I came back out with my coat and his. I nodded as we called up a cab and got in. We drove over to Boston where the driver dropped us off. We then rented a car for a few hours while we went and looked around at houses. Me and Steve made sure to turn off our cell phones and take out the batteries. He really wanted us to be secretive about this house.  
“I love this house” I smiled. It was a three story house, with a few acres of yard attached to the side of it. There was a stable and pasture also connected, Steve knew about my love of horses.  
“Well it’s a good thing then, cause its ours” He smiled pulling out the keys from his pockets.  
“No way!” I smiled coming over.  
“I may have bought it already” He grinned as I came over and kissed him.  
“So you dragged me around Boston to four other houses that you knew I would hate…just so the last house I would love?” He started laughing and nodded.  
“It was a plan. I picked and bought this house, like a month ago just so you would be all for it. And the apartment isn’t bugged, just wanted to get you out of the house” He shrugged confessing to his lies.  
“Steven Rogers!” I hit his arm which barely did anything. He threw his hands up.  
“I was just trying to make you happy” He yelped I rolled my eyes.  
“I was terrified the apartment was bugged!” I yelled and he walked over to give me a hug.  
“Its not bugged. I just wanted you out of the apartment to come see the new house” He repeated.  
“Alright I forgive you” I smiled and he let out a deep breath dramatically.  
“Thank goodness” He grinned.  
“I’m going to hit you again. So when do we move in?” I questioned.  
“Well… whenever. Its been ours for a month” He explained.


	9. The Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice lovely ending

The following month after that was spent packing and moving over to the new house. This included Steve repairing little things we found around the house, it was funnier seeing how empty our house was. His bed was moved to one of the guest rooms while we decided we could share the very gigantic master suite upstairs. Half of the upstairs was the master suit and the other half was split between an second media room, a small bathroom, and a guest room. Down bellow there was two other bedrooms, a nice large kitchen that was open to the dining room and a living room big enough to comfortably fit the entire Avengers squad plus some. Apparently Steve wanted lots of space and be just far enough away from neighbors to were a noise complaint wasn’t likely but they could still see our house if it were to catch on fire. The perfect distance of space Steve called it. I don’t even think anyone lives in that house down there but I wasn’t about to tell Steve that. I was just going to let him live on in his little fantasy of the perfect neighborhood and house for as long as he wanted. Unfortunately there was a lot of work to do in order to make it more homely.  
The first thing we worked on was our room. After painting it and giving a little bit of plant life and decor to the walls, we moved the bed in. Steve was even kind enough to push the bed into the corner so it was exactly the same as the apartment. Even though it looked odd compared to all those house and home magazines were the bed is perfectly in the middle of the room, that just wasn’t our style. I found some black sheets with a nice dark beige color for the comforter with some pillow sleeves to match. Overall it looked really nice until Steve wanted to change the wall color. At first it was white which would have worked with our beige colored sheets. But he wanted it blue like our old apartment so I moved that set of bedding to the guest room and went out to find a black centered bedding. I eventually found one that had blue in it so it wasn’t all Gothic. We then got some dark brown carpet for the entire upstairs since the guest room was white and the bathroom was also blue. If you can’t tell already, Steve really loved the color blue. I think it’s because of his uniform and it reminds him of America. Just an idea though. It looked a little abnormal for a master suite but we loved it.  
Following this we worked on painting the living room, kitchen, and all three bathrooms. The kitchen was surprisingly modern because the person Steve bought it from agreed to lower the price since the kitchen wasn’t finished yet. Steve soon finished that up within a few days of moving things around. He was quick when it came to house repairs and renovations. And just like when we lived back in the apartment, I wasn’t allowed to help unless he really needed it. My job was to decorate and pick out colors. While he was dealing with the kitchen I was finding things to fill some of the empty space in the house. This included furniture, plants, and rugs. I ended up finding some Greek decor and some American little knick knacks to fill some spaces. Not to much to push out our love for these two cultures, but enough to let people know what we represented. Pictures were hung in different spots, picture we had either collected from Steve’s parents, my family, any of the Avengers, and some paintings from fans of Captain America. He hated it, but I absolutely adored the artwork of some of the little kids who had worked hard on their drawings. Finally after a week of moving and sleeping on the couch together the house was finished on the inside until the spring. We mutually agreed to work on the stable once spring rolled around and it was much warmer.This was also the reason why we didn’t have any horses yet to fill the stables. That was another promise made to me by Steve. He mainly got this house because of the space and the free stable that came with. This was determined after I got sick fixing the pathway to the house and Steve gave me a lecture. Trust me, the last thing you want is a lecture from Steve Rogers. Now you are caught up.  
“How are you feeling?” Steve asked walking into our bedroom. I had caught a cold from working outside and Steve practically ripped me a new one and forced me to stay inside at all times. We didn’t speak that much to Coulson, Fury, or SHIELD for that matter. Steve was still an employee under them technically but he wanted to go out into the American work force. To say modestly, SHIELD owed him for a lot of things so money wasn’t a huge problem for us. I started working and earning online while Steve went and joined the Boston Police Academy. As you can imagine he passed with flying colors and earned his rank soon after, we mainly think because he was from there and he was Captain America. The sheriff was a wee bit bias towards him. Steve didn’t think it was fair until they offered him one of the new and improved Ford Mustang police cars. He quit whining about it being unfair. It was a beautiful car by the way. Steve worked the early mornings while I was asleep so he could spend the afternoon and night with me. He seemed to enjoy being needed again. He was aiming towards K-9 officer but that would take two years at least. He didn’t really mind, he was just glad to be helping others in a more stable job than being Captain America. Not everyone was his enemy in this field. Halloween started to approach with snow hitting the ground and I know what you are thinking. Yes it snowed in October, it was freezing here in Boston. Steve decided to give all the kids who came by a shocker by dressing in his old Captain America uniform. I mostly just sat by the door and watched his face and the little ones light up. We didn’t have a lot of trick or treaters but the ones that came got to spend some quality time with Captain America. One of the little girls came by dressed as him and he just lit up like a Christmas tree. I can’t even describe in words how he was so thrilled seeing her. And all she could do was giggle. He loved opening the door and seeing their little faces light up. I couldn’t take that away from him, so I let him pass out all the candy that he wanted until the night finally came to an end. Of course the devastating news soon hit us, of course it was coming at one point or another. Russia declared war on us after their ‘weapon’ went missing. The draft was called and Steve was selected. Just our luck.  
“Everything is going to work out” He whispered as he held me in our bed. I knew it was his civil duty to go over and fight. I knew he could operate in the heat of the battle, but he was leaving for months at a time without any notice. And war was different than it used to be. It wasn’t about who could fight better anymore. No, it was about who could shoot faster and kill silently. We both silently prayed SHIELD or someone would keep him home.  
“I thought… they would retire you by now.” I sniffled seeing as he was actually 92 years old. He nodded and agreed. But that could be changed since he’s still able bodied. I still don’t think its fair.  
“I know but remember when I had to get my information reset to how I was before I froze? They count that as my normal age now.” He answered kissing my head as we sat in silence and in darkness. The room appeared much darker since we had painted it blue and it was close to midnight when we got the information. We ate dinner in silence then went to bed.  
“Maybe Russia is just lying, maybe they wont do anything” I mumbled and he nodded. That would be the idle thing…. but its probably no the case.  
“It’s a possibility. Its also a possibility that I may not even have to go over. Great Britain, Mexico, Germany, France, and Africa have joined our sides. That’s plenty of troops” He tried to help so much make this less painful but I lost my father in war and I knew the affects it had on me. I can’t even imagine how I would react if ….. no I can’t even talk about it.   
“Steve no matter what happens, we will get through this. You forget that you are Ares…. God of War. Who else would be able to win a war and come home?” I joked and he smiled a little before walking us back to our bedroom. Sure enough we heard knocking on our door along with headlights shining through the large bay windows. We both got dressed in something that was more appropriate for company, especially SHIELD company. Steve walked downstairs and opened the door, this let in Fury and Coulson.  
“Good Evening” Coulson smiled looking between us with a grin. Steve crossed his arms over his chest.  
“We’ve got to borrow you two” Fury announced and I felt Steve take a step closer to me.  
“What do you need us for?” I growled and Coulson snapped his fingers as more SHIELD soldiers walked in.  
“Well you are going to interview the weapon that you captured. While Steve is going to personally escort two platoons of Marines to the Russia head quarters.” Fury finished opening up the beige file folder as he spoke to us.  
“No” Steve firmly ordered.  
“What did you say boy?” Fury growled walking closer to Steve who kept his stance tall and proud.  
“I served this country for 70 plus years I’m retired. I will stay here with Athena and interrogate the winter soldier.” He answered putting his face close to Fury’s.  
“Well one of you is going over to Russia. So if you don’t go I’m going to send Athena.” Fury shrugged, his face still blank with emotion. Steve took a deep breath and glanced at me.  
“I’ll go over.” I answered.  
“No you wont. You are staying here. I will go over to Russia. I want you here” Steve ordered again and I didn’t fight back. I really didn’t want to go over seas and he was better suited for fighting hand to hand.  
“Then it’s settled. You will head to basic” Fury finished handing me the file.  
“That’s where I draw the line. No basic and I pick the soldiers who are in my platoons.” Steve added and the room when silent. Clearly this was going to control how the rest of the argument went.  
“Deal. You are being sent off tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your night” Fury and Coulson left the house with the slamming of the door. Steve walked over double locking the door before sighing heavily again.  
“So much for getting out of it” I mumbled and he nodded.  
“Remind me to retire after this war” He sighed again for the umpteenth time. We walked back upstairs and went to bed.  
~~~~~  
”Remember to eat and sleep while you are over there” I ordered as soldiers started boarding the plane to take them over to England. Steve nodded and adjusted his fatigues and smiled at me.  
“I know Athena. I’m a big boy” He smiled holding onto my hand.  
“You better come home. Do you understand?” I ordered.  
“Yes ma’am. I’ll come home. You just do your job here and I’ll do mine over there.” He smiled and I nodded.  
“You better get boarding. They need their leader” I mumbled looking down.  
“No don’t pull this on me.” He whispered hugging me.  
“I’m sorry. I’m just scared” I whispered holding onto his back.  
“I’ll come home. Here if this isn’t a promise I don’t know what is.” He sat me down and pulled out a cloth from one of the many pockets on his legs. He unwrapped the little token which turned out to be a diamond ring. That’s right, he had a stupid diamond ring in his hand.  
“When?” I asked as he took my hand and slid it on.  
“After all this is over. We’ll get married. I promise you. I will come home to marry you and for us to have a family. This is just my job” He answered as I got one more kiss before he started walking towards the plane. I stood there watching as he waved. The door to the underbelly of the plane lifted up and he was gone. All the families sat there and watched as the plane pulled out of the hanger and headed towards the run way. I felt a little more guilty knowing Steve was leading those men to either their deaths or their plane ride home afterwards.


	10. Mission: Survive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously long chapter. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Coulson had dropped us off since I had no idea how to drive the motorcycle, quiet frankly I didn’t want to learn. I wanted to just being Steve’s little carry on. I walked out of the base and out to the black SUV that awaited me. Coulson even opened the door for me as I sat on the back seat of the Driver’s side. My thumb ran over the diamond ring on my finger. It was stunning to say the least. It was pretty much Steve on my finger. It had a single blue sapphire in the middle of it, surrounded by white little diamonds on a silver band. I took it off and noticed the Greek words ‘θεά μου’ ,which translated to My Goddess in Greek, engraved into the silver band. He had done his researched. It was the perfect engagement ring. I heard Coulson clear his through and I looked up after putting the ring back on my finger.  
“I helped him” He smiled quickly gesturing to the diamond ring.  
“Its beautiful.” I smiled sniffling.  
“He’s coming home” He added and I nodded.  
“I know. I just want the war to end quickly with not a lot of blood shed” I explained as we drove to SHIELD head quarters. Once arrived the SUV drove underground to the gated and tightly locked headquarters. I stepped out following Coulson into the head quarters. Walking through the halls, I watched the faces of other trouble makers as we passed their cells. Some reached out to try to grab me, others shouted out slur words. Coulson led me to a glass screen as we looked inside at the Winter Soldier. His arms were folded across his chest as he stared at the wall.  
“Why do I have to interrogate him?” I questioned and Coulson looked down at his shoes then back to me.  
“Because he only wanted to talk to you…. he wont talk to any of us” Coulson explained and I nodded.  
“What do you want me to ask him?” I asked taking all of my weapons off my person except the small knife in my waist. Just in case.  
“Anything. What ever you can get out of him before he gets ticked” Coulson finished nodding to the guard standing in front of the door. He looked at me before letting me into the room. I walked past the soldier to the seat across from him. He gave me a sly grin before pushing the brown, shaggy hair away from his face.  
“Well look who finally came to see me. The Captain’s little witch” He growled and I took a deep breath. Be professional.  
“What were your plans once you got to America?” I asked staring at him directly. He smiled again unfolding his arms and leaning on the table.  
“I can see how Steve would like you. Feisty just like Peggy” He laughed.  
“Why do you work for Russia?” I asked.  
“Do you ever shut up?” He growled hitting the table. I jumped a little at the suddenness of the hit.  
“Do you have any respect?” I growled back leaning in.  
“None for liar SHIELD agents who work with murders” He grinned.  
“I’m not a liar and you are the murder. You KILLED innocent men and women for no reason!” I yelled standing up.  
“Somebody got a little temper don’t they?” He chuckled leaning back in the wooden chair again.  
“Answer me. “ I said now gaining control over my temper.  
“No.” He mumbled.  
“What is wrong with you? You requested to talk to me, then you wont speak to me. And then you have the guts to sit there and say bull crap to me. Do you realize how high rank I am? I could kill you and have the body dropped in the ocean within the same hour. I can call the Avengers on your smart mouth in a heartbeat” I growled leaning forward keeping my face far enough away where he couldn’t hurt me, but I wanted to threaten him.  
“But you can’t call your precious Captain can you? He’s away fighting a loosing war. He’s going to die over there…my mother country is going to murder him…in cold blood. He is never coming home” He hissed in a low voice. He wanted in my head.  
“Shut up! You don’t know anything about him!” I yelled as two SHIELD soldiers came in to take him away.  
“You are so pathetic. He’s never coming home!” He announced as they dragged him out of his seat and out the door. I stood there catching my breath trying to regain my composure. Coulson walked in staring at me. I shook my head knowing I had let him in a little and I was a failure on my part.  
“You alright?” He questioned and I nodded.  
“Did you send Steve to his death?” I asked staring straight at him. He looked at me then looked down at his shoes.  
“We don’t know. They requested the best soldier, and it was him.” Coulson sighed as I walked back out.  
“Can I have a car while he’s gone?” I asked and Coulson nodded. We walked out to the garage again.  
“Muscle car?” He smiled and I nodded.  
“Mustang please” I smiled and he proceeded to walk me over to the new 2014 GT Ford Mustang. It was navy blue with red and white stripes down the middle of it.  
“This may have been specially made for you or Steve. Feel free to drive it" Coulson smiled and I ran my hand over the hood of it.  
“Its amazing. How does it run?” I asked opening the door as he tossed me the keys.  
“Like a horse. Sounds like a kitten” He announced as I got into the mustang with leather interior.  
“Thanks for the set of wheels” I smiled a little pulling out of the head quarters and driving back to our house. Steve just be safe.  
~~~~Steve’s POV  
Look being frozen was hard. Listening to Peggy beg me to find a new way to land that plane was hard. Dealing with this new life was hard. But having to watch Athena, this goddess who is never supposed to show emotion, practically one tear away from spilling…… that was terrifying. I can deal with soldiers dying around me. I can deal with being frozen and having to adjust everything I’ve ever known. I can handle being looked at funny. But I’m not sure how I handled leaving her at that hanger. I know what you are thinking. Steve get over it. Look I know I seem like the big tough idiot on the outside. I’m sure all the news stories made me either look like a gigantic hero (which by the way I’m not), or a murder. And yes, I was referred to as a murder. But I had feelings for Peggy. I have accepted that had I lived after that plane crash, I would have married her and had children. But clearly God had a different plan for me. Clearly me and Athena had our paths crossed so tightly that we are practically tripping over one another. And yes, it may be to soon to plan a wedding with her, possibly the rest of my life. But I left Peggy with no hope. She knew exactly what was going to happen. She knew I was dying and had to face that for the rest of her days. I couldn’t let that happen to Athena. I also understand that leaving her with a ring is a low move in and of itself. But if I were to die out here (lets all pray that I don’t) at least she would know that she was loved and I was planning on coming home to her. Someone else threw me off that course, it would be fuel for her. I knew life had hit a very low point for her if she was crying. I barely ever seen her upset, let alone crying. And crying over me. I know that seems like a dumb comment on my part but its true! She was crying over a 90 year old man going over to war. First off, I wasn’t suppose to even be there. Secondly, she was a tough girl, she could easily find another guy if something were to happen to me. Don’t get me wrong, I WANT to go home. I really do. I want to marry her and have little Greek children. I want to wake up every morning next to her. I want to chase our little Greek children all over the yard while she watches from the porch with our dogs drinking tea. I want to watch our sons or daughters (or both) grow up and leave. That would be the perfect ending to our unique, very unique, fairy tale. But first I had to finish this mission. This was my qualification to get married, of course this was just a personal qualification. Making the world as safe as I can for her and our future children. That’s a soldiers job right? To protect his beloved country. I took my seat in the cargo bay of the bomber and looked around at the seals that were assigned with me. Most of them seemed to be in their mid 30s possibly late 20s. They all had families, they were all tucking the pictures of their loved ones into their hats. I should have gotten a picture before we left. It would have helped a lot more that memory. The plane rumbled and shook as we felt ourselves get higher and higher. I kept my head down and my eyes closed, the last thing I need is to get sick on a plane.  
“How are you feeling Captain?” A heavy Chicago accent called out. I lifted my head up and looked around to see who the voice came from.  
“Yeah, how are you? You haven’t spoken since take off” A new york accented man called out. I nodded my head looking around at each of the men.  
“Last time I got deployed, I chose so because I had nothing to lose” I explained and the men nodded.  
“Do you have a family now?” A scrawny mid western kid sitting across from me asked leaning towards me.  
“I just proposed about 10 minutes ago. So now I do” I grinned and the men hooted and hollered.  
“Captain finally found himself a girl” One joked with a deep belly laugh. He had bright blonde almost white hair and a beard, but his skin was tan.  
“Why haven’t you changed rank yet?” One further up in the plane called out. He was of Spanish or Mexican decent, you could tell just by looking at him.  
“Captain is just easier to say then whatever rank they want to plaster me with” I explained.  
“Well how about Commander? Its short and none of us have that rank.” The scrawny kid asked.  
“Look guys, I ‘m not trying to out rank any of you. I just got pinned as your leader. I’m no different than any of you” I announced and one man shook his head.  
“No you aren’t, man. Excuse me for being out of line, but take some credit. You are the CAPTAIN AMERICA, I remember reading your comics as a kid! You are a living legend. Even if you don’t wanna accept it, its true. I would rather you out rank me. You deserve the title of the Chief of the Army.” Chicago guy called out and everyone seemed to nod and agree.  
“You’d be surprised… my fiance says the same thing” I smiled and they started chuckling again.  
“From one soldier to another. You did good. I am more than happy to serve under your command. You saved the country back in World War Two, let us save your back during this war” A new southern guy commented next to me.  
“How about you give me a state to call you by? No real names, they could track you guys down” I answered and sure enough I started to get some random states from the men. Chicago, York, Indy, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, ect until we reached all of the 20 men. I allowed Chicago to keep his name because it was easier since he had the most unique accent out of all of them.  
“What state do you wanna go by?” York asked, he was a burly black man who’s laugh was contagious.  
“I’ll go by … Kentucky” The men nodded and the plane went silent again.  
We finally arrived in Russia, according to the other soldiers we were suppose to go in a capture some sort of queen that had been taking over. Clearly Coulson did not give me enough information to let me be the best leader for these men. The plane arrived on the borders of Germany and Russia. It was a rocky and scary landing since the alliance with Germany was just as shaky as the plane. Germany agreed to an alliance after we granted them some troops for safety. It was shocking that Germany had gave in to something like that. But not going to complain about that. One platoon stood along the border to keep an eye out while the rest of us went in. We walked in on the train that was suppose to take us into the heart of Russia. It wasn’t winter yet so the weather was on our side for now as we trekked out way into mother Russia. I ordered the men to keep their head low and not look out the window. I wasn’t sure how territorial Russia was at the moment. We also all agree to cover our American flags the best we could. I even had the shield repainted to blend in with the dark navy colors so it wouldn’t give away the old red, white and blue. We infiltrated into Russia via some nice citizens who wanted to help us since their government was destroying those in the lower class. It was a small family of a mother, her hard working husband who just so happened to be a police officer, and their 4 year old son. We chose this family because the child wasn’t old enough to go to school so he couldn’t spread our location out. The mother was a close relative of Agent Romanoff so she understood the importance of our mission. The husband took some convincing since he was a true blue Russian, loyal to his mother country. But once he realized how self destructive his mother country was becoming, he gave in. We made our base just outside the walls of the government in a Russian families home. It was part of our job to blend in as much as possible. We all dressed in civilian like clothing, it was just enough to hide our gun belts, bullet proof vest, and our other smaller equipment. After a few days we were able to take on a Russian accent. It wasn’t the perfect version of one, clearly had some American dialect still but the mother assured us that we would be able to get by with it as long as we never spoke about America. But it was suppose to be a short stay so swiftness and quietness were key in this operation. After obtaining a few Russian guard uniforms we started our journey into the belly of the beast. We broke off into three groups so not to look so suspicious going in as a massive group of 10 men who all didn’t have a perfect accent. I took the lead with Chicago and Tex. They seemed to be my most loyal companions so I kept them close to my sides. Once inside the walls we started to truly see the devastation of this new Queen. People were turning green. Yes, I said green. You could see pores filled with puss and eyes practically falling out of their eye sockets. Something was clearly more wrong than just the government shift. We kept in an orderly fashion. No drifters, heads down, eyes peeled for activity that could turn dangerous for us. The ground looked liked a giant fire had started recently, it burnt everything to black ashes. The buildings had dried caked on blood on them. Some even having writing on them, the words were made out of blood. Bloody hand prints smeared on the walls, buildings, and even the sidewalks. The still living civilians groaned and pleaded as they came towards us. Every age, gender, and color was being affected by this disease. What the heck happened here? We walked closer to the guard post and entered inside, my right hand on my gun just in case. Men with blood on their vest walked over to us.  
“You must be the new set of guards” He announced, his English very poor because of his Russian heritage. I nodded my head.  
“What’s going on here?” I asked and he sat down in a fold out chair and put his head in his hands.  
“She did this” He mumbled. He knew of our intent. He knew we were Americans here to help, putting our noses where they shouldn’t be.  
“Who is she? What did she do?” Chicago asked stepping up from my left flank. He lifted his head up and looked at me.  
“She is trying to kill us!” He yelled standing up and pacing.  
“How?” Tex asked and I crossed my arms over my chest.  
“This… This… medicine she gave all the civilians inside of the wall. It was suppose to keep them warm in the winter… but its killing them!” He yelped again sitting back in his previous chair.  
“What happens when they drink the medicine?” I asked sitting down in the chair across from him.  
“They get sleepy, and pass out. That’s when crap hits the fan. They start to loose their skin, and what skin they have left starts to turn green. It peels off like a banana skin. And when they drink more of it, they start to get violent. We’ve lost 20 guards this week alone. They start eating their corpse. You have to save us!” He yelled grabbing my vest and shaking me. Fear was so prominent in his eyes, this queen was turning this country into zombies. I’ve seen enough Zombie movies with Athena to know what’s going on here.  
“That’s the plan. You need to get us close to her. Do you understand?” I asked pulling his hands off my vest and he nodded.  
“How many men of the guard can you convince to help us?” Chicago questioned stepping forward again.  
“All of them. We’ve been wanting a savior. But her inner circle wont budge from her side” He warned, I glanced at my two side soldiers nodding.  
“Well….we expected a fight when we came here. Just get us as close as possible. If you choose to fight by our side, you’ll always be counted as my ally” I held out hand so show our treaty with the Russians who wanted nothing but to escape this wrath of the queen. He reached out and shook it.  
“You must be Captain America… I recognize your face. They talked about you on the news…be fore she cut off TV” He sighed looking down again.  
“We are going to restore your mother country back to her original power. We just need to knock this queen off her throne. “ Tex smiled putting his hand on the man’s shoulder.  
“What’s your name soldier?” I asked squaring off my shoulders.  
“Viktor Haston” He smiled, his yellow teeth flashing with pride.  
“Nice to meet your Viktor. I’m Steve, this is John a.k.a Tex and this is Brad a.k.a Chicago. We go by state names. I’m Tucky. For Kentucky.” I explained and he nodded.  
“Mind if I call you Ken? It’s a little easier for my language to call you that” He asked and I nodded.  
“Yes sir. Now how do we get to the queen?” I asked.  
~~~~~~~  
“This is Agent Ramsey. He’s the best hacker we have. He’s your partner until the return of Agent Rogers.” Fury announced introducing me to a scrawny 25 year old man. He had dirty brown hair to his eyebrows and bluish green eyes. He was pretty good looking so I couldn’t complain to much. But he wasn’t my Steve. He had the muscles of a baseball player but he was as skinny as me.  
“Hi there, my real name is Caleb…. I’m not a huge fan of my last name” He announced holding out a hand. I shook it and looked at him.  
“No funny business. Understand?” I growled and he nodded.  
“Forgive Agent Denecour… her boyfriend was deployed yesterday and she’s still recovering from it.” Coulson grinned before glaring at me.  
“No hard feelings. I understand. My brother Jordan was also deployed, with your boyfriend.” Caleb nodded and I let my anger towards him disappear. He was a good guy, just stuck with me at the wrong time.  
“What do you need us for?” I asked looking at Fury.  
“You two are going to hack into Russia’s defenses and disable their nuclear weapons.” Fury explained handing Caleb a laptop and me a head set.  
“Then why am I needed if he’s the hacker?” I questioned.  
“You are going to walk Steve through the process of locking the country’s capital down.” Coulson smiled and I quickly put the headset on.  
“Let’s go sit down. It will be bad for us if we are standing up with a laptop that could cause a nuclear meltdown in Russia. Me and Caleb walked to head quarters main table and sat next to each other. Caleb began the hacking of the Russia defenses. He was in within two minutes and I called up Steve’s blue tooth.  
“I’m ready. Give me directions” Steve’s whisper came across the head set. I pulled up the blueprint of the building thanks to Agent Romanoff, who stood behind me to give back up.  
“Turn right and stay along the wall. Guards like to be posted on the corner.” I ordered as Romanoff drew circles on the areas were guards stood at all times. I could hear his breathing and the pitter patter of their feet as the walked along. A tracker on the blue tooth allowed me to follow his position on the screen in front of me and Caleb.  
“Stop. There’s a guard on that corner.” I answered in a low voice so it wouldn’t come out to loud on the other end. I heard orders being given and then the dot of the guard disappeared. Someone had taken care of him. One down, seven to go.  
“Are we clear?” He whispered.  
“Yes move forward. Stay along the right side until the next corner. Stay in the shadows Steven." I ordered and we watched, all our hearts beating like crazy.  
“Now what?” He asked pausing at the corner.  
“Turn left, now there is a guard on the right hand side. I don’t know how you plan to kill him” I answered watching the screen intently.  
“I’m a Captain. I’ll figure it out” I smiled a little watching. Once again more whispers, feet moving, something that sounded like a bell, then a quick thud to the floor. The blinking guard light was also gone. I shook my head not wanting to even think of how he was able to accomplish that.  
“Stay left for about 4 meters. There will be a door on the left hand side. Not sure if its locked or not. But inside is her sleeping chamber. Be careful” I warned watching the screen and hearing his breath. He started talking to the soldiers around him. It was a low whisper so certain parts were harder to pick up than others. But the jest of it was how serious the current location was and how they were going to kill her. Boots started to shift and I heard the turning of a door knob. They were going in. We all sat around the screen staring at it as Caleb was typing at extreme rates. He continued to keep us updated on his nuclear defusing situation.  
“Athena… I got it” He whispered leaning close to me since I wasn’t watching him at the moment. I nodded and continued watching the screen. A large blinking dot was in the room, signaling the Queen of Russia. I heart the click of the door knob and the creaking of a door open. I bit my lip and felt Caleb tense up next to me. Steve’s heartbeat could be heard from the blue tooth.  
“Well if isn’t Ares… come to take out the enemy” The eerie woman’s voice called out followed by a chuckle. My eyes widen as my mind reeled at a hundred miles an hour. It was Gaia. Mother Nature herself. I heard some shuffling of feet as we all waited to see how this was going to play out.  
“Who are you?” Steve asked and more laughter was heard in the background.  
“You don’t recognize me? I guess the Greek Olympians don’t teach the new gods who they are suppose to fear.” She laughed again.  
“You don’t look like something I should be scared of. Being the God of War…a tiny old woman doesn’t scare me. Sorry miss” He hissed.  
“Well they did at least find someone with the personality of Ares. It was so sad having to kill old Ares… he was a much better version of Ares. But at least you have the build” She laughed again.  
“To bad I’m going to have to place you under arrest.” He announced a few more boot steps following his words. She laughed again.  
“Arrest me? The really didn’t teach you ANYTHING did they? I am Gaea…. mother nature… and I will not be taken down by some puny god with a machine gun" She yelled.  
“Can I kill her Athena?” Steve whispered.  
“It has to be a head shot. It wont kill her but it will do some damage” I answered standing up and starting to pace.  
“Oh is that little Athena?” Gaea laughed loud enough to shake the room, or at least it seemed that way. I heard Steve cock his gun and several magazines of bullets later the room was silent.  
“Did you get her?” I asked watching the faces of Fury, Coulson, Romanoff, Barton, and Caleb all stare at me.  
“She’s down for now. Is there anything I can do to keep her down?” He asked.  
“I have no clue…” I muttered sitting back down.  
“Tex gag her and tie her up with this steel cable.” Steve ordered. I could hear some commotion.  
“Get her out of Russia as quickly as possible” Fury announced and I relayed it for Steve.  
“We can put her in the same holding cell as Loki. There is a truck with one parked on the borders of Germany and Russia. You just have to get her there" I added and Steve nodded. His breath was fast and hard they ran out of the building. Romanoff and I gave them directions as the got out of the building. A Russian guard, which appeared to be their friend, assisted them in getting her body into a car. That’s when I heard something I didn’t quiet understand at the moment. I heard growling, Steve yell and a gun shot. The blue tooth line went dead.  
“Steve?! Steve!” I yelled holding my head in my hands. Please Zeus… just let him be alive.


	11. The War isn't Over Yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter than most chapters but an important one

“Take her home Caleb. Stay with her” Coulson ordered shutting the screen off.  
“W-What about Rogers?” Caleb asked.  
“We’ll keep an eye on the situation. Take her home…don’t let her leave” Fury ordered.  
“I’m right here” I growled standing up and taking the blue tooth off my ear and shoving it in my pocket. Just in case he could get the line back on. Just in case.  
“We can take your car” Caleb offered as we walked to the garage. After we had driven to the apartment and we got inside.  
“Listen, I’m going over to Russia” I announced changing out of my civilian clothes and into my black uniform and snapped on my guns and shrunk Greek sword into my waist.  
“But Athena… Fury ordered…” He started to mumble.  
“Did you forget that your brother is there?" He’s Steve right hand man. That means if something happened to Steve… there’s a chance it happened to Jordan as well” I explained and he went silent.  
“When do we leave?” He asked as his face harden up and he stood in a more soldier stance.  
“As soon as you get your uniform on. I have a sneaky way of getting to Russia” I smirked. Caleb ran to the bathroom and changed. I handed two spare pistols and the Greek sword of Steve’s.  
“How are we going to get there fast?” He asked and I walked to my room and grabbed the bad of dust I was given by Apollo for quick travel. I walked back over to Caleb.  
“Don’t ever speak of this to anyone….. understand?” I asked and he nodded his head. I grabbed his hand and like every smoke bomb you ever see in cartoon’s, I threw the bag on the ground which busted it and spread the dust everywhere, creating a portal underneath of us. After some jerky and thumping we landed on the outside of the wall of the government of Russia. Letting go of Caleb’s hand we grabbed our pistols and snuck inside. Sure enough everyone was fighting some sort of creature. It looked human but I couldn’t be sure. Caleb and I ran over to the truck that Fury had told Steve to take Gaia to. The heaviest gun shot sounds were coming from the vehicle. I started shooting the creatures in the head, they were trying their hardest to get inside the vehicle. Gaia must be controlling these creatures somehow.  
“I’ll handle them! Go find Steve and Jordan!” He yelled as the creatures started to chase after him, he took off at unusual speeds. I watched him to make sure he was getting away safely before running over to the vehicle. Two men were blocking another.  
“Steve?!” I called out before getting knocked over by one of the creatures. Green goo was dripping out of its pores and I kept my mouth shut and my nose away as I wrestled with the creature. Its mouth got close to mine before someone ripped it off of me, followed by a flash of a gun. I jumped up and seen a black haired young man much like Caleb.  
“Sorry… I’m not Steve miss.” He frowned but I hugged him anyways.  
“You are Jordan Ramsey right?” I asked and he nodded with confusion clear on his face.  
“Yes… how do you know me?” He asked.  
“Me and your brother came here to save you and Steve. He’s over there with those creatures. He needs help now go” I ordered as he glanced over his shoulder at the mob of creatures trying to climb up the building Caleb was standing on. He nodded and took off towards his brother. I started my search again for Steve. I ran into someone’s chest and this time I didn’t even have to look at the face to know who it was. It was Steve. He was covered in blood and goo but he was up and walking. And that’s all that mattered to me. I tried to figure out if he was bleeding anywhere, and if he was I had to make sure none of this green goo had got in his system.  
“I’m fine Athena… quit panicking” He smiled as we backed up from the battle.  
“Are you sure?” I asked pausing my search for injuries.  
“Yes I’m sure. Now get these guys on that truck and go home. Understand me?” He ordered.  
“Not without you. Go get Jordan and Caleb… then we can go home” I ordered and he shook his head.  
“I can hold them off so you can escape with Gaia. Now go” He nudged me again.  
“No, I thought you were dead once… its not happening again. I’m staying with you” I growled turning to shoot a creature coming towards us. He sighed and glanced around.  
“Screw your stubbornness. We need to seal this off from the rest of the civilization. Any ideas?” He asked shaking his head.  
“Distract them… they are attracted to sound. If us four can make a big enough racket it would deter them from the truck and get them out” I explained and he nodded.  
“What about us?” He questioned and I held up a little bag of dust.  
“I’ve got us covered. Just get everybody else out” I ordered shooting my gun in the air a few times and some of the creatures heard it and ran after me. Steve followed my lead as we deterred most of the creatures from the truck. The soldiers on board took care of the rest as the truck backed up through the gate. Right as the front bumper got pass the gate, it slammed down on the creatures. Decapitating a few and cutting others in odd shapes. Then we were trapped inside. I climbed up on the roof where Caleb and Jordan were, until my foot was grabbed.  
“Caleb!” I yelped since Steve was on another roof and I knew if these things bit me it would be troublesome. I felt hands on mine and two forces tugging me on the roof. The roof cut up my stomach pretty bad but I bit my lip and stood up. Steve jumped over to the roof and now we were all together. Only one last thing to do.  
“Let’s grab a plank of wood and connect a roof to the wall”. Jordan offered. We all nodded as we ran over roofs. Creatures down below screamed, jumped, and growled at us until we reached the edge.  
“Crap… I don’t see one” I sighed looking around. Steve ran over to the corner of the house.  
“Hey look its close enough over here. We just need a short plank” He announced. Jordan shot a piece of the wooden roof and tore up a plank.  
“That works” I sighed as he ran over to lay down the plank. We all heard growling as one creature managed to get on the roof. I started shooting as Jordan and Caleb ran over. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and lift me off the ground. Soon enough we were over the wall and Steve was snapping the plank in half.  
“Captain! Here” A man behind us called. He tossed up a barrel and we tossed it on top of the wooden house. I noticed the explosive sign on the side as Steve shot it and it lit the house on fire. All four of us stood there watching as one house lit the next on fire as screams of creatures could be heard. Steve slid down the wall until he hit ground then held out his arms.  
“Promise you’ll catch me?” I asked sitting down on the wall. Caleb and Jordan were dumb enough to jump down, one of them twisting their ankle in the process.  
“I promise. Now come here” He smirked as I gulped before jumping down, landing in his arms with a thud.  
“Thanks Captain” I smiled leaning up and getting a kiss. A few of the men hoot and hollered which made Steve swat at them.  
“As much as I would like to enjoy your little romance scene. We need to get her back to the US. And find who is going to run this god foresakin country” Chicago announced and we nodded.  
“Viktor!” Steve yelled and the Russian man poked his head out from inside the truck.  
“Yes Captain?” He questioned.  
“How long have you been in Russia?” Steve asked leaving my side.  
“My entire life sir” He answered. Steve rested a hand on the man’s shoulder.  
“You are the new overseer of the country. How do you plan to run it?” Steve asked.  
“Well… maybe I can try that Democracy thingy you Americans do” He smiled, his beard covering up his lower lip.  
“We can send over some officials to help you. I hope this fixes the anger between America and Russia.” Steve smiled holding out his hand.  
“My mother country will be happy to serve beside soldiers who saved them” The man answered shaking Steve’s hand.  
“Can you escort us out to Germany’s border?” Steve asked and the man nodded.  
“Follow me” He answered. Chicago grabbed a second truck from one of the former guards. After pushing a few dead bodies out of the vehicle, we climbed inside and followed the main vehicle along the main roads of Russia. Most of the civilians just stared at the vehicle with the large container in the bed. Others glared at the lady in it. Others waved and smiled. We may have won a battle…but the war isn’t over yet.


	12. Buzz it off

“Athena…what do you know about her?” Fury questioned pointing to the 6 monitors on constant watch of mother Gaia. We also had twelve guards posted at all times as well. There was no way of her escaping without someone knowing how she did it.  
“I know you would think I would know a lot.. but I only the basics. She’s Mother Nature in human form. She can start storms, disease, and disasters with the snap of her fingers. She fought the Olympians several times, in fact she birthed them. But just like the Olympians, her powers have been passed down for generations. So she can’t move around as easily… hint the reason why you can keep her in that fishbowl. She’s human… she can be slain… but it takes more than a handful of bullets to the head. “ I answered looking at all the shield agents in the room at the moment.  
“Then how do we stop her?” Caleb asked who had now presentably became my side kick. Jordan and a man that Steve called Chicago had stayed behind with us after the Russian incident. None of us has slept or showered since then. It was a straight flight back to the US and to SHIELD’s headquarters within the same twenty-four hours. I sat between Steve and Caleb.  
“Well in the old Greek studies… the only way Gaia would stop attacking the Olympians… were if she was put asleep. As long as she’s asleep..she doesn’t do that much harm.” Steve answered clearly proud of himself.  
“What was that whole thing about being Ares?” Barton asked and Steve glanced at me.  
“I became Ares… the former Ares died in battle against Gaia. So I was next in line. So I’m the god of War” Steve answered and the room went silent.  
“How are we supposed to put her back to sleep?” Coulson questioned.  
“I don’t know. She hasn’t been defeated in eons.” I sighed again.  
“Well bullets did a number on her….You said she’s human… sort of… so that means she has some human weakness. How about decapitating her?” Jordan suggest. I stood up fast enough to knock Steve back.  
“She’s mother nature! Your life will cease to exist if you kill her!” I growled and Steve stood up in front of me.  
“Jordan… you forget that she’s a goddess….” Steve announced in a firm voice. Jordan backed up a little.  
“Whoa wait a minute here…. you are a god… and she’s a goddess. And you two are together?” He questioned.  
“Yes. Now sit down before I move out of her way” Steve finished and Jordan sat on the the other side of the table.  
“What about a sleeping powder?” Barton offered.  
“A sleeping powder?” Romanoff questioned turning in her chair towards Barton.  
“Yes….if she’s human…that means her body reacts the same to sleeping medicine. It will be like giving her a giant dose of Nyquil” Barton smiled looking at me.  
“What do you think Athena?” Steve asked me turning towards me.  
“I think it will work…but we have to get someone to slip it into her food” I answered.  
“I can do it….” Romanoff answered.  
“You realize you have to have your best poker face ever…. one false move and she’ll know” I added. She nodded.  
“I got Loki to tell me his big plan … I can deal with this. In fact …. put it in both of our foods. NyQuil doesn’t affect me” She answered with a smile.  
“I like it … Romanoff does have a good poker face” Coulson smiled.  
“Give her a few days here. Let things seem almost normal … she’ll suspect something on the first day … but after the fourth or fifth … it will be much easier to slip it in” Caleb finished. We all nodded in agreement.  
“After she’s asleep. We bury that container as far down in the earth as possible. That’s her weakness. Earth itself … it weakens her … but she has to be more than six feet under it for it to take affect” Steve finished.  
“I’m proud of you for reading up on this” I smiled.  
“Its part of me now… I’m just glad I can help” He grinned. The plan was set in motion.  
~~~~~  
We were finally home after traveling over the world in the past week. I was suppose to have been overseas for around a month. Yet within the same week I was back in America, back in my own bed. I can not put into words how happy I am to be in my house. The first thing I did was take a warm shower and just stood there for awhile. Yes it was a short deployment and yes maybe I’m over reacting in your eyes. But I just had to deal with skin dripping zombies and mother nature herself. Let me enjoy this shower. Athena had laid out my clothes for me after I hopped out so she could climb in and repeat the same process. I let the dogs out into the backyard and sat down in my arm chair waiting on Athena. After about an hour she made her way downstairs and started to cook some dinner for us. I got up and came into the kitchen and turned off the stove.  
“No…we are ordering out… and enjoying a fatty meal together. No cooking… I'll order for us and go pick it up” I smiled taking her back over to the couches. She didn’t even struggle against the option. I ordered takeout Italian and picked it back up after 45 minutes. She had gotten out plates for us, drinks, and apparently had chosen a movie for us as well. She was up for a date night just as much as I was. We sat down next to each other and she started the Lion King for us. I smiled and ate my white rice happily. I picked up our empty cartons and disposed of them, and let the dogs back into the house. Walking back over to her she patted the couch cushion next to me. I happily laid down and put my head in her lap. She turned on, what I believe was country music, and ran her hand through my hair.  
“I’m shocked they didn’t make you buzz this before deploying…” She smiled playing with it.  
“I want to buzz it. It makes my helmet really hot” I answered and she moved her legs.  
“Come on… lets go buzz it” She slide out from underneath my head. I got up with her and followed her to the bathroom.  
“You sure you can buzz my hair?” I asked as she patted the toilet seat with the lid down. She grabbed a towel and laid it around my neck to keep the hair on the towel and not in my shirt.  
“Honey…. I buzz cadets every spring…” She smiled kissing me as she took out the hair clipper from underneath the sink and plugged it in.  
“I am going to look so weird with buzzed hair” I chuckled.  
“I won't cut it to your scalp. I’ll keep it on 3 so it doesn’t have your blonde hair but so it can grow back.” She smiled running her hands through it again.  
“I haven’t cut it since I was 16” I smiled looking up at her.  
“I’m sure you will just as good or even better.” She changed the end of the clipper to the third option and waited.  
“I’m ready” I smiled wrapping the towel around my neck tighter. She turned on the clipper.  
“Last chance….” She giggled.  
“Cut it off baby” I smiled waiting. She giggled again and started to buzz my hair. Of course this meant she was going to play around and take her time to actually finish it. At one point I had a mohawk and then apparently tiger stripes. After about 10 minutes, it was all buzzed off. She took the towel off for me and shook it into the trash. Despite her best efforts some still got into my shirt so I had to take it off.  
“Hop in the shower real quick just to wash your back off.” She smiled rubbing my buzzed head.  
“Or… lets go get in the pool” I offered.  
“But its cold outside… and its late” She frowned and I gave the pouty lip.  
“One quick jump in and then out. We can cuddle in bed afterwards.” I teased and she sighed before nodding.  
“One jump” She smiled as we walked out to the pool stripping down to our undergarments. I held her hand by the edge of the pool. It was cold out so I can’t imagine how cold this pool is going to be.  
“Alright…. One…. Two… Three!” I yelped as I picked her up and we jumped it. This was an awful idea. It was so cold. Literally as soon as we hit the water it was a race to the concrete and then inside. We were both shivering like crazy.  
“N-N- Never A-A- Again” She was shaking. I grabbed towels for us and wrapped her up, rubbing her sides.  
“L-L- Lets get dressed” I announced as we ran upstairs and changed into warm clothes. She dried her hair and I made the bed for us and got out the electric blanket and turned it on. She shut off the lights in the bathroom and ran over to the bed and jumped on me. Laughter and messed up sheets soon followed as we warmed up with a tickle fight.  
“I was so worried…. you weren’t going to come home” She finally said as we had laid down on the bed under the blankets. I sighed intertwining her fingers with mine.  
“How do you think I felt when you randomly showed up in Russia?” I questioned and she nodded.  
“You were in trouble…” She frowned.  
“And you thought magically appearing over there was going to solve that problem?” I asked and she looked down.  
“I thought… if you could get some help, I could make sure you came home” She mumbled.  
"I appreciate your help…. it was needed. But…. I rather have you home safe then over there with me. I had to keep an eye on you to make sure you were coming home with me” I answered pulling her to me.  
“Next time I won't come” She smiled.  
“Thanks for the haircut…. it looks fantastic” I teased running my hand over my buzz.  
“Its going to shock everyone when we go back into work” She laughed.  
“Oh yeah… I wonder if it will be this short for the wedding” I asked wanting to bring up this subject.  
“Only if you want it to be” She mumbled from her rest spot on the pillow. She was laying on her stomach while I laid on my side next to her.  
“How do you want it to be?” I asked laying on my own stomach next to her. This is how it normal happened when we went to bed, I laid on one edge and she scooted as close to me as she could, leaving more than half of the bed empty.  
“I want you to be happy. If having it short feels better…. we’ll buzz it the day before our bachelor and bachelorette parties” She answered with her eyes closed now.  
“That works for me…. are you happy right now?” I asked laying my nose as close to hers as I can.  
“I’ve been better” She sniffled trying to hide a tear.  
“Talk to me” I waited kissing her cheek where the tear was.  
“I’m just scared…” She answered letting a few more tears escape.  
“I know…. everything is kind of scary at the moment.. but it will get better I promise” I whispered kissing her head.  
“You don’t know that Steve!” She called out sitting up looking at me.  
“I know that… And I know I don’t know everything but I know as long as we stay together… we should be okay” I answered trying to pull her closer.  
“I‘m just scared I’m going to wake up and you are going to be dead because of Gaia or those freaking creatures” She admitted.  
“We aren’t going to be separated anymore. I wont allow it. Just promise me no more of this magic portal of dust over to me to save my ass. If I’m unsafe its not the best idea for you to come and find me. The last thing I need is to watch you die. And that’s the first thing any enemy is going to do. They are going to find my weakest part, the chink in my armor. And it’s you. So promise me if I have to leave stay near Caleb…” I ordered. As much as I didn’t like how that scrawny kid looked at her sometimes, I knew he would take my place if given the chance. Maybe not out of spite of me, but he had a little crush for her. She may never feel exactly the same towards him, but he would take care of her.  
“I promise” She answered looking up at me. I kissed her a few times before she laid back down with less tears on her face.  
“You can cry it out… you deserve to let it all out” I offered holding my arms open for her. She scooted over and nuzzled into my chest and sure enough she started to cry. I laid there rubbing her back and pulling the blankets back over us. I could feel my t-shirt sticking to my chest in the center, so I knew she was letting it out. She needed to though, she had toughed it out for several days and even weeks. After an hour the crying sounds and the moving shoulders slowed down until the whimpers became silent and the moving back went into a steady rhythm. She had finally fallen asleep. I wrapped my arms around her and laid my head down on hers and closed my own eyes. I watched a little night light she had put up while I was gone. It was a tiny lamp on our bedside table. It rotated around and played the lullaby she sang for me when we first slept together. It was a tiny prancing horse who danced around the room with a soft glow about it. There was something to do with horses and the Greek gods but I don’t remember the story behind it. But it did help with my nightmares and that’s all I needed it to do. She hated the dark so it was two birds with one stone. It would make the nightmares less frequent but the only way to fully knock me out of the nightmares was for her to sing. Recently they had gotten worse, I had actually been trapped in the dream. I knew I was awake, and I knew she was talking to me but I couldn’t snap my mind out of that dream realm. I had to wait until I died in the nightmare for it to be over. Needless to say I did not sleep that much that night, and neither did she. We both just laid there until she got up and went to pull out this little night light. She sat it on the bed stand and plugged it in. She turned off all the other lights and came to lay back down with me. For the first couple hours we just stared at it listening to the soft melody before my own eyes got heavy and it became even a bigger struggle when she started to sing. We had found a very simple remedy to my post traumatic stress disorder, and her fear of the dark.


	13. Maybe History Was Right

The following days were a test of how strong our relationship truly was. Several times throughout the morning I had to answer phone calls concerning what happened over in Russia, which woke her up every time because the idiotic ringer was loud and obnoxious. She eventually got up and got her headphones and plugged them into her phone and closed her eyes, but not without pull my arm over her for protection. Then the washing out of the blood from my uniform was next. After making sure to take pictures, just in case they decided to put me on trial for whatever reason, we argued a little over who was going to do it. In all honestly, I should have just gave it up but I felt like it was my responsibility to clean up the mess I had made over in Russia. But she eventually won and cleaned off both of our uniforms with a sad face as she washed the blood off. I chose not to leave the room just in case it became too much emotionally or mentally for her. At one point she left the room to throw up after cleaning off puke from one of the creatures on my uniform. The laundry room in our house stunk for days afterwards. Then of course we had Homeland Security, the CIA, the Chief of the Army, and even the President call us in to discuss what exactly had happened and what we could or could not share with the public. I explained what we believed to be the virus that had cause the enviable death of those humans.  
“What do you think we should do Captain?” President Asher asked sitting across from me, the Chief of the Army sat on his right, and the representative from the Department of Defense sat on his left. I had Athena on my right and Fury on my left, which may had been a bad choice for me but oh well.  
“I think we should close down the ports and the airport…. I know its drastic but if this virus gets to the US, its going to be devastating. Its going to spread with a single bite. Its deadly and its hard to kill.” I offered and Asher nodded understanding my emphasizes on the damage it was going to cause.  
“Well, can you get us a few… test subjects? If we can figure out what kills this virus before it hits our shores… we could bring down the damage of human life” Chief offered looking at all of us, this meant going back over to Russia and maybe finding a few subjects.  
“My Avengers will need support from some soldiers and the equipment to bring them back to the US” Fury added in, now I knew why I brought him, he was my negotiator for materials and men.  
“We have a few different containers we could send over with a bomber to load them on. How many men will you need?” Asher asked taking out a pen and paper pad to write everything down.  
“I have a few men from the previous mission I would like to take with me plus 10 more men, plus any additional men to help us load the crates onto the bomber and make sure its safe flight” I answered and I followed up by giving him the names of the soldiers, including Tex, Caleb, Barton, Athena, and Chicago.  
“We can supply back up from the Army. We’ll send some Seals with you for back up. That should be enough firepower to bring in 4 creatures.” The representative said looking at the men he sat next to and then to me.  
“Sounds like a deal to me. You need four correct?” Athena questioned.  
“Bring as many as you can handle. The more different systems, the better chance we have of making a vaccine capable of protecting civilians from all the different strands. “ Chief answered.  
“Herd ‘em up” Asher smiled at me as we stood up and shook hands.  
“We will leave tomorrow morning. We should be in Russia within the daylight” I finished as we walked back out to the three black SUV’s waiting for us outside.  
“Oh and Captain… you have some interrogating to do” Fury announced walking over to an SUV.  
“Who do I have to interrogate?” I questioned holding the door open for Athena.  
“The Winter Soldier…. he wants to talk to you in person” Fury finished climbing into the SUV.  
~~~~~~~  
We returned to New York after a long car ride home, Athena laid down on my lap and took a nap while I watched out the window. Coulson turned in his seat towards us and smiled.  
“You love her don’t you?” He smiled looking down at her then back up at me.  
“More than you can imagine” I smiled brushing the hair away from her face.  
“I think I have a pretty good idea. You two seem to get along pretty well.” He commented as the car pulled into SHIELD’s head quarters and I unbuckled me and Athena. I picked her up and Coulson go the door for me. I carried her inside and sat her down but she woke up pretty fast thinks the the banging of the Winter Soldier. He was pounding his fist on the two way mirror clearly eager for some attention. I took off my jacket and laid it over her and kissed her head before going inside the interrogation room. Coulson and Fury stood outside and watched with Athena.  
“Finally! Look who they sent in!” He yelled as I walked in and sat down in the steel chair’s mounted to the floor along with the table.  
“What’s your real name?” I questioned holding my hands on the table and staring at him as he walked around the table. He couldn’t get that close to me since he was chained to the table and luckily the table had been made long enough to where the chain stopped before he could even get close to me. He started to laugh and shook his head.  
“You don’t remember me? Oh come on Steve…. “ He grinned flashing his yellow teeth underneath his shaggy brown hair. I stared at him but nothing was coming to mind. A little red flag kept waving at me so I knew this man but no names or images of the past were coming up.  
“I don’t remember you.” I answered staring at him. He sighed dramatically and sat down in the chair across from me.  
“I’m Bucky! Remember the guy who you let fall off the train?” He growled and I sat back in my chair. Man, he had changed since the last time I seen him…. when he fell off the train.  
“I didn’t let you fall Bucky! You chose to let go!” I growled back and he slammed his hands down on the table again.  
“I chose to fell because you were a murder!” He yelled trying to reach for me.  
“You murder people just as much as I did. And we both know why we killed those people! They were Nazi’s trying to kill hard working Americans!” I yelled slamming my own fist into the table. He laughed louder.  
“Oh Steve….. they never taught you anything did they?! They only told you that you were killing Nazi’s! But you killed all kinds of people. Russian’s included!” He yelled flashing his teeth like a Doberman pinscher.  
“When did you side with Russia? You were just as much an American boy as I was! You joined the army!” I yelled.  
“When I discovered how disgusting America was! Russians saved my life! They are my mother country! Not this pathetic excuse of a country!” He growled and I stood up this time.  
“Your disease ridden country is trying to infect the globe with a virus! How fantastic can your country be?!” I questioned and he stood up as well.  
“Your country can’t keep its nose out of other people’s business!” He yelped back and that’s when the door slammed open. It was a hot mad Athena.  
“Shut your mouths! Both of you!” She growled standing in between us. I closed my mouth and looked down trying to regain my composure. Bucky just laughed more and rattled his chains.  
“This can shut you up?” He asked pointing towards her.  
“Don’t lay a finger on her” I growled and he laughed more.  
“Peggy was a better choice Steve. You should have died with her!” He yelled slamming his fist, making Athena jump.  
“And you should have died when you fell!” I yelled back.  
“Steven Rogers! Hush your mouth.” She growled louder and I sat back down and waited. There he goes with his laughing again.  
“I’m not surprised they paired you two together…. you both are a little amer-“ He never finished that sentence. Athena gave him a perfect right hook into the nose and he fell, hitting his head on the table before slumping sideways in his chair.  
“I told you to hush your mouth” She hissed at his now limp body. She didn’t kill him, or at least I don’t think she did, but she did at least knock him out.  
“I’m sorry…. my temper got the better of me” I apologized looking down.  
“Steve its fine. I’m not mad at you. I just needed to give you both treatment to see if that made the situation any better. Clearly it did though…. that hurt!” She whimpered holding her right hand which had turned red from the impact. I stood up and lead her out the interrogation room. Two EMTs came inside to examine the damage Athena had done.  
“Let’s get that hand wrapped up and put some ice on it” I offered as we walked over to Coulson and Fury. Fury was laughing and Coulson had a grin on his face.  
“Nice right hook…. just like a boxer” Coulson smiled looking up at me.  
“Did you see how fast he fell like a sack of flour?” Fury asked chuckling a few more times. Athena smiled proud of herself and I watched her receive a few more compliments before we got out to her car. I drove us home and parked inside of the garage. After walking inside I made her change into something more comfortable and grabbed the first aid kit and an ice pack. Sitting on the living room couch I laid her hand on my lap and started to wrap it. She wanted to refuse help and just do it herself but I wouldn’t allow it. The room was silent for a few minutes until I finished tying it up and she winced with the final tightening of the bandages.  
“Sorry baby” I muttered handing her the washcloth and the ice pack. She sat it down on top of her hand and scooted over to me as I grabbed the TV remote. We watched a few cooking shows and eventually landed on some game show before either one of us spoke.  
“You aren’t a murder” She mumbled on a silent part of the show, I sighed.  
“Yes I am… I have blood on my hands that can never be washed off” I answered and she shook her head.  
“No…. your country has that blood on its hands. You were being a soldier and defended your country. That’s not murder… that’s war” She explained.   
“But the country didn’t pull the trigger… I did” I sighed and she nodded.  
“But who told you to pull the trigger?” She asked.  
“Well the government…. but they didn’t end that persons life” I replied looking at her. She still didn’t agree with me.  
“And who made the executive decision to hunt down those kind of people…. you didn’t. You were ordered to fulfill a mission. They were targets" She finished and I sighed again.  
“But I didn’t have to pull the trigger. I made that choice” I added in once again.  
“And what was the other choice? Be counted as traitor and thrown into prison for life? Or did you forget the other decision that could have been worse. You could have died. They could have pulled the trigger on you. Steve you are not a murder. You will never be in the American eyes. Well the American’s who understand what you did and why you did it” She finished and I decided to drop the argument for the sake of our relationship. It wasn’t about me being a murder with just a relationship that I planned to have for a long time.  
“Is this going to be a problem for the rest of our relationship?” She questioned looking over at me. I glanced down at her and shrugged my shoulders.  
“Its part of me. So not accepting that…. means you aren’t accepting me” I explained and she stood up shaking her head.  
“Then I wont accept you. You are not a murder and you will never be to me” She finished walking upstairs. I can’t believe this is going to be the first fight.  
“Athena come on…. why can’t you just accept it. Its just life” I called out following her up the stairs.  
“Its not just life Steve! You do this constantly and I can’t stand it.” She huffed grabbing a suitcase from the closet in our room.  
“Do what constantly?” I growled and she tossed the bag down on the bed.  
“You wont take credit! For god sakes Steve, you are a fantastic soldier. You are a good man and your head and heart are in the right places. But you wont take credit for the amazing crap you have done! I’m glad you are trying to be humble but will you please just be proud of yourself for once?” She explained her hands in a tight fist.  
“I am proud of myself!” I yelled back.  
“No you aren’t! Any time anyone tries to thank you or give you a single compliment you deter them off of you and onto others. Be proud!” She yelped again tossing clothes into the suitcase and zipping it up.  
“And you are the perfect one is this pair?” I asked and she shook her head.  
“No I’m not… I admit to it though. I am proud of myself. Maybe history is right” She mumbled walking down the stairs.  
“What is history right about?” I yelled and she walked over to the book stand and pulled out a heavy green book and tossed in front of me.  
“Goodbye” She answered walking out the door and slamming it.


	14. She Knows....

I picked up the book and noticed the Olympian symbol on the front of it. The sound of thunder covered up her car engine revving and pulling out of the driveway. I sat the book down on the coffee table and walked out the front door. She was still parked at the end of the driveway, but I couldn’t see inside the car itself. Little sprinkles started to fall as I walked towards the car, probably should have put some shoes on but oh well. The car stayed parked but the head lights flipped on. The closer I got to the car the more I could see that she was upset and trying to hide it from me. I walked over to the driver’s side of the car and knocked on the window.  
“Athena…come back inside…” I asked looking at her, she would not return the gaze.  
“No…” She sniffled playing with the seat-belt.  
“Don’t leave over something so little” I added as the rain started to get heavier.  
“Its not just this! You don’t understand….” She started to cry again and held her stomach.  
“Then explain it to me…” I begged not sure how to take the hand on the stomach.  
“I barely understand it myself…. just ever since Gaia…. I started hating you and I don’t know why” She answered.  
“You… you hate me?” I asked and she shook her head.  
“I don’t know Steve. I know I love you, I know I’m going to marry you but every time I look at you, I get angry and I don’t know why. That history book said its because our gods used to lovers…. and then something happened to make me hate you…” She explained wiping her cheeks off. I sighed and looked at her.  
“Go back to the apartment and rest. I’ll call you in a few days when I figure out what’s going on” I sighed and she nodded.  
“Do you want the ring back?” She asked and I shook my head.  
“No…. you keep that. It was meant for you and only you.” I leaned down and kissed her, and amazingly got one back.  
“Bye” She sighed pulling out of the driveway which had turned into a river itself. I waited until I couldn’t see her tail lights before walking back in the house. I changed into something dry and put the spare key under the mat outside just in case. I walked back over to the book and flipped it open and searched for the story she had spoken about. After going in about one hundred pages I discovered a passage that made me understand why Athena felt that way.  
“Athena was the first women that Ares ever fell in love with. She would have been the only had Aphrodite, who was in love with Ares, discovered the two lovers and let the affair be known. Zeus was extremely over-protective of Athena because she was his favorite child. But contrary to his love of Athena, his hatred of Ares was as equal. He did not take the idea of the love between the two. Zeus thought Ares had ruined his daughter and decided to punish him the worst way possible. Zeus could have done several things to punish Ares such as banishment, or take away his immortality, or sent him to the Underworld. Instead, he simply made it so that everything about their love was taken back. Athena’s memory was erased of ever having loved him, her virginity was restored, and the child that she was carrying was gone. Then, a lead tipped arrow was taken and plunged into her, so that she could only feel hatred towards him from that day on. But Ares could never forget the love that he had shared with Athena, thus making the War God only surrender to the War Goddess. No matter the battle, Ares will always drop to his knees in front of her. Hoping that one day that perhaps he could catch a glimpse of her beautiful eyes and find that somehow she remembered. Zeus has used his power to make sure the two never were to fall in love in the generations of gods. The way he tried to prevent it was by pain being inflicted to Athena if she ever tried to search it up. Passages about the love affair would be hidden from her eyes even if she was looking directly at it, it would give her headaches. If Athena and Ares were ever together, their love would only last a year before hatred would develop in Athena and cause the couple to split.”  
I sat there staring at this book who had bluntly laid out in front of me what exactly happened and why Athena left. And her stomach…she was holding it either because of the pain from the lead-tipped arrow…. or she was carrying a child. Both were entirely possible in this situation. The only part that didn’t make sense to me was the length of time in which the gods were together. Me and Athena had only been together for six months now, half a year. I decided to finally meet up with Zeus and solve this problem myself. Athena taught me once how to summon a god and how to go to Olympus myself. I changed into the Ares clothing given to me the day I was chosen and started to say the phrase and closed my eyes. After what felt like a huge wind tunnel I felt sun on my skin and the chirping of birds. I opened my eyes to find myself on a cloud with a golden throne in front of me. Sitting upon the throne was a older man with salt and pepper speckled hair and bearded. He had a sunken in cheek bones and a frown clearly present on his face. In one hand he held a lightning bolt shaped staff and the other rested under his chin.  
“Ares, I see the previous god chose an heir” He called out sitting up a little in his throne.  
“You must be Zeus” I answered putting my sword into the halter on my belt and slid my shield onto my back. He chuckled and leaned forward a little.  
“I love new recruits, they are all still formal with me” He laughed more before gesturing for me to come forward. I walked forward and stood tall as he rose to his feet, the staff having to assist him a lot in this process.  
“Zeus…. I need to speak with you abo-“ He held a finger up to me.  
“I already know son…. your girlfriend” He answered walking down his throne using my arm as he walked towards the forest in the distance.  
“How… How do you already know?” I questioned and he laughed.  
“I’m Zeus! I can see everything, especially my beloved daughter and her boyfriend.” He answered as I followed him towards the forest.  
“Well…. why did you make her hate me?” I questioned as we walked towards a giant oak, as we got closer I could see that there was twelve of them next to one another, the biggest with a lighting bolt carved into the bark.  
“I didn’t. The first Zeus did…. I am just told the history.” He added walking over to my tree and Athena’s. Behind our trees stood several others in rows, none in the middle.  
“Do you know what this is son? It’s the family tree” He grinned patting my tree.  
“I’m sorry… explain this for me” I asked and he gestured for me to follow him to his tree.  
“You see son, here is my tree. Now I’ve had children with Hera as you know. Between me and Hera’s tree… do you see all those saplings and older trees?” He questioned walking over to the short sapling between the Hera and Zeus tree. Hera’s tree had bright purple leaves while Zeus has gold. On the little sapling you could see one purple and one yellow.  
“This… is a child of you and Hera?” I asked and he nodded.  
“Sort of. These trees represent the human gods. So I’ve had a child with the actual human Hera. So a sapling grows between us. Each year a new tree is planted in front of the others. So all the trees lined up here represent new gods that are currently humans living. Now let’s go back to your tree” He explained walking over to mine and Athena’s tree. You could see down the rows there was zero saplings. Except right between mine and Athena’s tree. Her leaves were a light blue color while mine were orange. On the little sapling sure enough there was a orange and blue leaf.  
“Does this mean?” I asked staring at the little saplings.  
“Yes… you are a father.” Zeus smiled patting my shoulder.  
“But…. I thought you didn’t want us together” I asked standing back up. He shook his head.  
“Like I said earlier, that was the first Zeus. I think this child will be the perfect soldier. But only if your Athena can make it past the first trimester. She doesn’t know yet” Zeus explained.  
“But Gaia…” I finished and he nodded.  
“She knows of your child. She wants it. She wants it to lead her army. And she will kill you both to get it. You must put her under the earth quickly. As soon as she see’s Athena.. she will fight to get that child. Put her 12 feet underground after you’ve put her to sleep. She will forever sleep and your child will be saved. Tell no one except Athena of the child. Just get her put to rest…. and do it quickly young warrior” Zeus explained as we walked back to throne.  
“Can you make her stop hating me?” I asked and he nodded. He waved his hand over the arm of the throne and a vial appeared.  
“Have her drink this…. it will give her back her memories… all of them” Zeus handed it to me and I held onto it quickly.  
“Thank you…” I smiled and he nodded.  
“Its about time for me to have a grandchild. Protect her Ares…” He firmly ordered and I nodded. He opened a portal for me back to the house and I quickly stepped in and watched as it disappeared behind me. Now I have to find Athena.


	15. The Blank Book

I had arrived to our former apartment soaked from the rain and still reeling from Steve’s commitment to me. I sat there on the hardwood floor, I didn’t really want to leave but I knew with my temper I needed to get out of the house just for a little bit. I knew he would track me down within the next hour and I would let him come find me and take me home. I just don’t understand why I was so angry with him. I had no reason to be angry, okay maybe I was a little over the top with the whole credit argument but it was just a spark for me. I knew if I stayed in that house for a second longer I was going to explode. Within ten minutes of me leaving I seen headlights flash through the windows and the sound of a motorcycle engine shut off outside the apartment. I turned my back to the front door as the door knob jingled and it slowly opened up. I sat with my knees pulled up to my chest and my cheek resting on my knee caps. Heavy footsteps walked over until I heard clothing shift and he sat down next to me. I kept my face away from his as I just listened to our breaths and faint heartbeats. I felt him scoot closer and his warmth press against my side. We just sat there. Neither one of us spoke, but we both seemed to enjoy the presences of one another. Eventually I gave in and leaned against him. We stared at the hardwood floor that was lit up by different cars passing by the window. I finally decided to break the silence.  
“You don’t have to take credit for anything…. I guess I thought everybody likes to think they did something right” I mumbled as his cheek rested on my head.  
“I don’t think I’m a murder” He answered and it went silent again. Even though it seemed like a small conversation, it meant a lot more than that. It meant that we both understood the root of the argument but just weren’t ready to tackle the rest of it.  
“History is wrong” He mumbled and I sat up to look at him.  
“But in the book” I started and he shook his head.  
“The book hides things from your eyes” He explained pulling something out of his pocket. It was a tiny blue vial with a unique oval shape for a lid. He handed it over to me after opening it up.  
“What’s this?” I asked looking at him.  
“Its going to restore your memories…. and allow you to read what’s in the book” He explained gesturing a little for me to take it. I paused for a moment before taking and gulping it. It tasted like rotten fish with a mix of throw up. I had to cover my mouth so the entire contents of the vial did not make a reappearance on the floor. I closed my eyes as a massive headache started to spread from my forehead onwards. Steve wrapped an arm around me as I hid my face into his side as the headache started to turn into a throbbing, memories were flashing in my mind but the headache didn’t allow me to pause and actually take in the memories.  
“It hurts” I whimpered and he nodded.  
“I know baby, but its going to make you stop hating me” And that was all the push I needed to suck it up and handle this awful pain. I hated hating him. If that made sense at all. But I did. I knew there was a Greek reason why I hated him like I do now, and I’m hoping this vial makes it clear. I held onto his arm as he attempted to sing the Greek lullaby I usually sang to him. There was no word in the English language that could tell you how awful this pain was. As the pain died down I finally was able to hold my own head up and start to filter the memories of the first Athena. I watched the love affair of Ares and Athena come to life. I watched Aphrodite run off towards the throne room. I could feel the lead-tipped arrow stab my stomach, the agony in Ares eyes was so prominent back then. The battle of Troy even came to mind watching Ares drop to his knees in front of the old Athena who held a spear to his chest. He was crying. The God of War was crying. My own tears started to well up as I finally was able to take control of my mind fully. I clutched onto Steve’s arm still as I took some deep breaths trying to relax. He waited rubbing my back until I leaned forward on my own.  
“I’m sorry for snapping at you” I mumbled and he scooted closer again.  
“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t you…. it was your goddess trait coming out” He hugged me again and I leaned into his chest.  
“I’m ready to go home if you are” I answered and he nodded. We both stood up as he put back on his helmet and we drove home separately. It was still pouring out even after we changed clothes and laid back down in our bed. I was laying down waiting for Steve to finish his nightly rounds of locking every door and window. He let the dogs in and put them in their crates. He shut off all the lights, came into the room, cracked the door and laid down on his side of the bed. I had stolen one of his shirts and scooted close to him as he shut off the bedside table and turned on his little night light of the prancing horses. I smiled a little as he turned over to face me.  
“Let’s scoot to the middle of the bed” He smiled moving us towards the center of it before he laid down, but not without taking one more look around the room.  
“Steve… we’ve never been broken into… why are you so paranoid?” I questioned and he sighed.  
“When I was younger, the house was broken into, luckily my dad was there and everything was fine but it scared me. So now being the man of my own house, I have to protect you and this little one” He smiled leaning down to my stomach.  
“Wait… Little one?” I questioned sitting up, he cocked his head to the side.  
“That’s right…. Zeus didn’t tell you did he?” Steve asked and I shook my head. I got up out of the bed and went to the bathroom to take a test. Steve stood in the doorway leaning against the oak of the door and watched me.  
“Zeus wasn’t wrong” I sighed waving the little white stick a few times just to make sure I was seeing the actual results. Steve chuckled a few times and took it out of my hands and tossed it in the trash.  
“Waving it around isn’t going to get rid of the baby” He smiled and I shook my head.  
“I don’t want to get rid of it” I answered getting up off the toilet.  
“Zeus told me about it. Have you been to Olympus since you turned into a goddess?” He questioned as we went and laid back down in the bed. I shook my head.  
“No I’ve never been to Olympus. I’ve wanted to go but I didn’t want to face Zeus incase he hated the last Athena…” I answered and Steve nodded his head as a hand found its way onto my stomach.  
“You should go. It’s beautiful… it’s a haven. But the coolest thing was these trees. Twelve different trees for each god or goddess. Your tree had blue leaves and mine had orange and in between these big oak trees was this itty bitty little sapling that had one orange and one blue leaf. And when you looked down the rows… it was the only sapling ever there. Zeus wants to meet you. He wants to see how our child turns out because it’s the perfect hybrid for a perfect soldier” Steve explained and I sat there watching his face and eyes light up as he told the story. He was a true Greek at heart. He was built and sculpted like one. He took to the Greek culture like a horse to hay. From my own past taking the Greek culture, rules, and history took me awhile to understand and comprehend it. But Steve… it took him a week and he naturally accepted it. I figured after the whole Thor incident he would reject everything Greek since it was not one but twelve gods and goddess. But I assumed wrong. And now we have this little one who is going to be raised in the Greek culture with a dash of Irish from Steve’s side and a large portion of American since we both stood proud for our country. Steve would only become worse in his habit of protection in the house. As much as I believe Steve about his break in incident when he was a child, I do think that some of the problems with Coulson and Fury coming in also added to the issue. I will have to speak to Coulson about that because he would understand. He was a fangirl of Captain America the last thing he would want to do would be to disturb the Captain and his child. Oh no…. this little one is going to be spoiled like there is no tomorrow. Barton would spoil it. I know what you are thinking, Hawkeye isn’t a big softie. Oh yes he is. You have yet to see him around small children and babies, his whole tough exterior just melts away. Tony would enjoy the little one as well. I haven’t seen much of Tony lately, mostly because him and Pepper went off to get married and have been traveling the world trying to fix Stark Industries image. Banner was tagging along with Dr. Franklin who kept an eye on the Tesserac. So that pretty much left Fury and Coulson to bug us and Barton with Romanoff.  
“We just have to survive Gaia and this war with Russia… and then our little one will be in a peaceful world.” I smiled and Steve nodded.  
“If you had to guess… when would it be born?” Steve asked. I leaned back and started counting.  
“Well its pretty much December. So an August baby? Maybe I’m not sure” I answered and he nodded.  
“Plenty of time to prepare for the little one” He smiled kissing the non existent bump before kissing me.  
“We just have to be careful” I finished and he nodded.  
“This is kind of a silly request” Steve mumbled looking down at the sheets.  
“Tell me Steve…” I lifted his chin up.  
“This little lamp thing does a nice job of singing it… but can you sing that lullaby?” He asked and I smiled kissing him again.  
”Yes I can” I smiled and he laid back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. I started to sing it while stroking his face. Over the past months, his spells of bad nightmares were less in less thanks to the little night light. But after his deployment he had two really bad nights of just sweats and the rocking on the corner of the bed because he couldn’t snap out of it. Nothing was scarier than watching Captain America fight his own mind from the bad memories. None of the doctors at SHIELD could figure out why he was having such a bad case of post traumatic stress disorder. Most of them guessed that it was because he was frozen for seventy years and so his mind didn’t have enough time to process everything that was happening to him. So now that he’s awake his mind was just reeling. Kind of like my mind with the memories. There’s only been a few times when he just had to ride out the memories. He never told me of them. He wouldn’t. And so I didn’t push. But it’s awful sitting next to him and watch him tense up and even cry at some points and all I can do is sit there and sing this lullaby. But for whatever reasoned it work. I closed my own eyes after singing the lullaby a few times. Steve’s breathing had turned into a rhythm and he wasn’t stirring every time the song finished so I finally was able to fall asleep.


	16. You Fool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I feel like I should give a personal note. I do not hate Black Widow I swear. And yes Athena can be a mary sue character I'm fully aware of that. But this was written for NanoWrimo back in 2013 before the Winter Soldier.

“Mrs. Rogers …it appears you are 4 months in” The doctor announced as me and Steve sat in the doctor’s office of SHIELD headquarters. I glanced over at Steve and then back at the doctor.  
“But sir… I just took a test yesterday and I’m not even showing. Four months? I should have a little bump or something.” I asked and Steve nodded holding my hands. He had yet to sit down since we came into the office. Steve had a healthy fear of the doctor’s after being poked and prodded by scientist after he woke back up from his frozen chamber. The doctor sat down his pen after writing something on this clipboard, he was about to get serious.  
“Ma’am… had this been any other patient I would brush it off as the baby is just small or not even there.” The doctor sighed before pushing up his glasses. He was a dark haired man with lots of wrinkles. According to Coulson he was the best doctor here in America so I had to trust what he said.  
“But?” Steve asked glancing at me then back at the doctor.  
“But…. you are Captain America and from the test we did when you woke up…. your cells heal four times faster than the average human. I think… that gene may have passed down onto your child. You see he is growing two times faster. So physically she is two months along, but the baby is growing at 4 months. Now the only problem with that is we have to make sure the little guy is getting all the nutrients he needs to develop at that pace. You aren’t the first to have had this sort of problem. But it can be dangerous if we don’t take steps and keep up with the baby” The doctor explained looking at both of us.  
“But… he should be alright? I can deal with more medicine if that means he’s going to make it” I asked and the doctor nodded at me.  
“Yes…. this means your body will rapidly change so you need to do everything you can to make sure you remain safe. But being apart of SHIELD and being married to this man,” He pointed to Steve, “could make it more dangerous for the little guy. Just be careful. Stay out of fights, don’t strain yourself, desk work for awhile alright?” The doctor asked. We both nodded.  
“When do you think he could be do?” I asked and the doctor leaned back in his chair thinking.  
“Well… in two to three months. So a late January or Early February maybe March. We just can’t tell right now since he’s growing faster than the previous case of this. Between January to April keep an eye on your pains and stomach. They will be a easy sign of how close you are to birth. We hope it’s a natural birth and not a c section but we don’t know” The doctor answered.  
“Great… a big game of ‘we don’t know’ “ Steve sighed and I nudged him.  
“Steve… its not like we are a normal family…” I added and the doctor nodded.  
“We are going to do everything we can to make sure he comes out healthy and happy. You just have take it slow alright Steven?” The doctor asked standing up to shake his hand. Steve shook it back and helped my climb down off the bed.  
“Oh and Doctor?” I called out and he stopped his process of opening the door.  
“Yes?” He asked.  
“Do we know if it’s a boy? Or were you just saying it?” I asked and the doctor chuckled.  
“Well its early since you are 18 weeks but I’m about ninety five percent sure it’s a boy.” He smiled and left the room.  
“A little son” I smiled and Steve was beaming with pride. We both said we would be happy no matter the gender, but I knew Steve wanted a boy. He wanted someone to run around the house with and teach to fight and play football. I just wanted him to come out normal and happy. We walked out of the examining room and out to the central part of the SHIELD headquarters. Coulson was pacing the floor while Barton sat at the table tapping a pen. Romanoff was busy reading something. Coulson looked up as soon as we walked into the room.  
“Is it okay?” He asked coming over and I heard Barton scramble out of his chair and run over to us.  
“Yes… he’s fine. He’s healthy he’s just growing at a rapid pace because of Steve’s super hero genes” I smiled and Steve hung his head.  
“Good job Rogers…. you scared the living crap out of us” Barton hit Steve’s arm in a joking manner and Steve smiled a little bit.  
“Are you sure it’s a boy?” Coulson asked.  
“The doctor said he’s about ninety five percent sure but he couldn’t tell fully because the little one had it’s legs crossed. But judged it off how high he was in my stomach. “ I answered and Coulson nodded.  
“Guys… we do have a mission to complete” Romanoff added in and you could even see Barton roll his eyes.  
“We do have a new member of this confusing family coming in” Barton growled back at Romanoff who stood up.  
“Family?! Barton we are a bunch of agents who work for the same agency. We are not a family” She answered.  
“Yes we are.” I growled back and she walked over.  
“Listen here little miss perfect…. I’m sick and tired of you being treated better than me just cause you're with Rogers. Quit being something you're not” She hissed.  
“First off you Russian fool… I’m a Greek Goddess. Understand that? I’ll always be higher than you. Secondly, you make yourself an outcast. Everyone pities you because you play the freaking damsel in distress card. Always need Barton to back you up. If you are such a master of assassination quit bringing a buddy along with you!” I yelled back and that’s when Steve and Barton stood between us.  
“Ladies easy….” Coulson announced watching the argument from afar.  
“She started it” I growled walking away from her.  
“You started it the day you met him!” She yelled. Steve turned around and towered above her.  
“And if we wouldn’t have met… your ass would be dead. Remember the mission to go get Bucky? You fell and she covered you. Without her being there… you would have died. So leave please” Steve ordered and Romanoff walked away with her heels clacking against the stone of the building.  
“Finally… that needed to happen” Barton sighed sitting down on the table.  
“What do you mean?” Steve asked and Barton looked at him.  
“You couldn’t tell? Natasha and Athena have been wanting to go at each other’s throats for months now.” Barton explained and Steve looked at me then back at Barton.  
“Seriously? I thought… “ He stopped and Barton nodded.  
“Oh yeah. You could cut the tension with a plastic knife” Barton chuckled.  
“Why do you hate her so much?” Steve asked.  
“I didn’t always hate her. She just turned into a witch when we got together. Personally I think she is jealous of us… but that’s just me” I shrugged and Barton nodded.  
“She hates how perfect you two are. I know you aren’t always perfect but she would get mad when I didn’t act like you” Barton explained.  
“She…. She wouldn’t be Aphrodite right Athena?” Steve asked and my jaw dropped. It would explain why.


	17. The War Starts

“But Barton isn’t Hephaestus but it makes sense” I nodded.  
“Guys explain for me” Barton asked standing up with his arms crossed over his chest.  
“In Greek mythology, there are twelve Gods and Goddess. Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia, and Artemis. Any who in Greek mythology Athena and Ares were together until Zeus broke them up. Aphrodite was a tattle tail and told Zeus about Athena and Ares because she loved Ares. But she was married to Hephaestus. So me and Steve thought maybe Natasha is Aphrodite…. while you are Hephaestus. “ I finished and Barton nodded.  
“But neither Aphrodite nor Hephaestus are dead and I’m pretty sure they haven’t picked an heir yet” Steve added in and I nodded.  
“I don’t know why then. I’m just saying that this situation fits pretty well to the actually Greek relations and stories. It may just be a coincidence… but I do find it odd” I sighed and the room went silent.  
“So… this would explain why she hated you and Steve together as much” Barton finished and both me and Steve nodded.  
“I’m home!” A familiar voice called out as we turned around to find a half drunken Tony with Pepper trying to hold him up. You could tell she had just about enough of his crazy, drunken state. She walked him over to a chair and forcefully sat him down.  
“Well look who finally decided to show up for work" Fury announced also walking into the room.  
“I’ll go get Natasha so she can do her job” Barton finished walking out of the room.  
“How’s it going Pepper?” I asked and she pushed some hair out of her face. We had always been semi-friends, well we never had a reason to communicate other then when Tony wouldn’t leave the SHIELD head quarters or if she couldn’t find him, I was the next best hound to go out and find him. Tony didn’t really take lightly when Pepper sent Fury or Coulson so I was up next. She had sent Natasha a few times to track Tony down but he always would flirt with her and make inappropriate comments and that ended shortly when Natasha just finally punched him. He deserved it. And he never really stepped out of line with me, partially because he knew I would hurt him and so would Steve . He respected Steve but I knew there was a love hate relationship between the two men. Steve sometimes couldn’t handle the drunk, arrogant, ass that Tony was sometimes. And despite your thoughts, sometimes Steve is a hard head who is as stubborn as a mule. Those two personalities didn’t really work well together.  
“It’s…. it’s alright. He just wouldn’t shut up about some formula for you. So I figured if I dragged his ass here we could figure out what he was mumbling about.” Pepper finished fixing herself and regaining her composure as Tony grinned like a fool and looked around the room. Barton returned with Natasha who looked like she could break something in half. Clearly he had just ticked her off more by coming to find her.  
“Now listen here…. I got this thing…. It’s gonna help put little miss nature to bed” Tony fumbled around with his words as we all sat there and listened as he waved his finger wildly about.  
“What kind of formula is it?” Natasha asked and Tony put his head on the table and never rose it again, he was asleep don’t worry.  
“Listen I want to listen to Tony’s formula which I’m sure is brilliant, but the winter solstice is coming soon and if she isn’t put to sleep before then, its going to be utter chaos. Now please Natasha as much as you hate my guts and probably my own child’s guts will you please just do your job and give her the medicine? If we can get that in her system and put her to rest its one less of the three villains we are gonna have to deal with. We will call a truce until after all this nonsense is over with. Deal?” I held out my hand trying to push the situation along. These other people may not know exactly what could happen if she isn’t put to sleep. But I do. And I even think Steve might have a inkling of a clue about what could happen. It needed to be dealt with now and not after Tony has got over his hangover. Natasha rose up and walked over clearly eyeing the situation.  
“Deal. But you make one more stupid comment about me… I’ll let that creature out of that tank” She growled and barely shook my hand.  
“Then don’t make a comment about my family or me” I squeezed her hand to emphasize what I meant before dropping it. No need to start a fight now when we already have three going on. We both nodded as one of the scientist from SHIELD walked over with the sleep inducing drug in an epee-pen and handed it to Natasha.  
“Barton you are my back up, along with Steve. Athena stay back so she won't hurt your precious baby” Natasha announced and Steve put out an arm in front of me.  
“Easy baby…. just let it go. She’ll pay for it later I promise” Steve whispered and I nodded as I went to sit down at the table with Fury and Pepper. I hated to stand this far back from the action but I had to think of the little one in me and what could happen if she knew about our child. I watched Steve walk away with Natasha but not before smiling back at me. I waiting until there picture came onto the large view screens. Gaia was walking around the tank in a giant circle but she stopped as soon as she seen the trio enter the room.  
“Finally! Some human interactions! I may be Mother Nature but I like talking to other humans” She laughed as Steve and Barton took corners and crossed their arms over their chest. Natasha walked forward towards the tank and crossed the bridge the allowed people to come close to the glass. Other than this little bridge the tank floated over a pit of boiling lava. It was the only solution I knew to temporarily kill Gaia if things went downhill.  
“Hell Gaia… I’ve heard a lot about you” Natasha smiled. Even though I hate her guts, she was the best interrogator who could act the best around villains. Gaia sat down on the bench.  
“Who did you hear it from? Because if it was from that gentleman over there,” She gestured towards Steve who’s back tensed up on the screen, “then you probably heard I was crazy and trying to take over the world.” She finished grinning.  
“Oh no, I don’t listen to other people’s opinion. I like to watch and learn all on my own. Plus I did some research on you myself. Now tell me, why do you hate the Greek Gods so much?” Natasha sat down in a chair to face Gaia.  
“Oh I didn’t you do research on me sweetie?” Gaia smiled coming close to the glass near Natasha.  
“I did, but I rather hear it from you” Natasha crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair waiting for her answer.  
“Well sweetie…. Zeus and his pathetic brothers locked my children up like they were monsters! But in truth, Zeus and his sidekicks were the true monsters. Ever since then… I've hated the incest fessed family. Including every descendent of this family” Gaia finished walking back around in a circle.  
“Why hate the new generations? They didn’t lock your children up. They just posses the same powers as the first gods and goddess” That is when Gaia started laughing again even more.  
“Oh… but that is EXACTLY the reason why I hate all the generations of the Greek gods and goddess! They must swear to protect every law and moral of the Greeks. INCLUDING the one of keeping my children in their prison. INCLUDING the job of laughing at them like they are pigs. Without my children they wouldn’t be here!” Gaia yelled as Steve tensed up again and took a step forward.  
“But they are just following the rules and guidelines laid out before them… they may not share the same thought process as the Greek gods and goddess of the old. You could even say there were perfect little soldiers” Natasha hissed looking over her shoulder at Steve who’s jaw clenched up and he locked his stance.  
“Look who it is! Little Steve Rogers…. or would you rather go by Ares? Hmm? How’s your pregnant little girlfriend? Or did you finally marry her?” Gaia hissed pressing up against the glass in Steve’s direction. Steve kept silent.  
“Aww come on little fella. Did you finally marry that chicken? She’s the Goddess of War but she wont kill a soul! She is just gonna stand back and watch it go down and make sure to pipe in every now and then to make sure she seems like she’s helping” Gaia laughed again and Steve’s hands dropped to his side in clenched fist.  
“Steve” Natasha whispered but Steve didn’t move from his stance nor did his eyes from Gaia. She was purposely getting to him because she knew she could.  
“And let’s talk about you shall we? You are an old geezer who needs to die!” She hissed walking back up to the glass again. This time Steve met her halfway. I stood up but Caleb, who had randomly appeared behind me in the seat with his laptop, grabbed my hand and pulled me back down to my seat.  
“Don’t… let Captain fight his own battles” Caleb whispered in my ear and I sat down and took a deep breath. Tony had raised his head up when he heard Gaia practically screaming at Steve and Natasha.  
“She’s got a mouth on her” He commented chuckling but everyone glared at him. Even Pepper hit him upside the head. I returned my gaze back to the screen as Steve was trying to pull himself back away from the glass.  
“Come on Steve… yell at me. I know you have a voice. I’ve heard you yell orders before. Come on…. want me to start ranting on what your son is going to be like?” Gaia smiled and Steve hit the glass right where her face was, it left a giant crack in the seven inch thick glass between him and her. She took a step back and laughed a little.  
“So your son is your Achilles heel? You realize he’s going to be frowned on by the other gods. He’s the child that’s not suppose to exist! That’s why none of the Athena’s have EVER had a child with Ares. They die at birth. Your son is going to have the same faith. Look who his parents are! A coward and a hot head!” She hissed again and Steve backed up. We all knew if he hit that glass again, he was going to break it. I started to get up again but a forceful hand from Caleb put me back in my seat. I placed my hands on my stomach hoping our son couldn’t hear anything that was being said about him. It wasn’t true. I was going to have a healthy son with his daddy’s pretty blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. He was going to play football with him and run around the pasture with the foals. He was going to be here. We were going to paint the nursery blue and find the perfect crib for him. Everyone was going to spoil him, my son would be born into this world no matter what happens.  
“Steve easy… she is just getting in your head” Barton commented walking over to Steve who was trying to bring his breath down to normal.  
“Oh I’m doing more than just getting in your head…,” I literally sat there and watched her as she morphed throw the glass. Like it was nothing! She ran past Natasha and Steve out towards the main floor of SHIELD. I watched all three of them dash after her. I knew exactly what she was going to do. Infect all those innocent people outside. I got up with Caleb, Tony, Fury, and Pepper as we all ran outside as well. I ran down the stairs as best as I could, while Caleb held onto my arm for extra support. Once we reached the main floor I could see a body laying on the street outside with three other living forms standing around it. We all ran outside and looked at Natasha, Steve, and Barton.  
“Did you kill her?” I questioned and all three shook their heads. A few members of SHIELD ran to greet us with our weapons of choice and Steve’s shield along with Barton's bow. Pepper ran to the car parked along side of the road, which I assume was the one she brought Tony here with, and got out the folded up Iron Man machine. We all quickly suited up while we took in the scene around us.  
“I stabbed her with the epee-pen but not before she started spreading that nasty disease to some of the civilians out here” Natasha admitted as we watched some people fall onto the ground, their bodies shaking violently and there skin started to turn the sickly puke color. Oh crap.  
“Guys…. we’ve got another problem” Tony pointed out as Ultron appeared like a small human down the street. Oh come on! Of all times for this freaking machine to appear he chooses now to appear. Darn it.  
“Well ladies and gents looks like we have some work to do” Barton commented as we all stood around looking at each other.  
“It appears we do” I smiled clipping a few extra guns and magazines to my person as Steve fixed his belt and shield on his arm. I glanced over at him and he sighed heavily.  
“You shouldn’t be fighting” He answered as we walked towards a few of the creatures who are finally standing up. I shot both of them in the head not liking the idea of killing civilians but the last thing I needed was to be bitten while carrying a child. Steve kept to my side until someone jumped in front of both of us. It was Bucky in full uniform, his entire face covered except for his eyes which was hard to see sometimes thanks to his dark brown shaggy hair. But after seeing him so many times, I knew it was him. And so did Steve because he stood in front of me with his shield raised up.  
“How the hell did you get out of there?” Steve asked as I glanced around for creatures, I could see a few starting to shake so I went ahead and shot them both twice just in case.  
“Come on Steve…. you know I’m a master assassin… I can learn to get out of handcuffs” He laughed as he walked forward towards Steve who stood his ground.  
“Athena… go back with Barton and Caleb” Steve ordered over his shoulder as I watched for other creatures.  
“Why? You need help here!” I called out as Steve pushed me towards Caleb.  
”Don’t question! Just go!” He yelled back and I ran towards Barton and Caleb who were trying to deal with Ultron and the ever growing mass of zombies, even though there were creatures in reality, I’m just gonna call them zombies. I glanced back over to watch Steve chase Bucky into the dimmer streets of New York City.


	18. Not Him...

~~~~Steve’s POV~~~~  
“Bucky… come on we are friends… why are you so determined to kill me?” I asked before his knife slashed down but not fast enough to avoid my shield as I pulled out the Greek Sword of Ares. He laughed shaking his head.  
“Because you Americans always stick your nose in the wrong place!” He yelled as he took off towards Stark Tower. I smashed several zombies as I followed him in hot pursuit. Night was starting to fall on us so keeping him in eyesight was much harder than it would have been had it been morning. I hooked my shield onto my back and chased him faster, this time with a pistol in hand so I could kill any zombies getting to close to me. I watched Bucky start to climb up a building and so I followed but I ran halfway up a set of rooked old stairs near a fire escape of this old part of town. The building had clearly been standing for decades so I don’t think two grown men were going to wreck it to much. Once I hit the third flight of stairs I jumped up to a window sill and climbed my way up to the top until I heaved myself onto the roof where Bucky was already across the roof side. I unhooked the shield pulled back my arm and launched the shield directly at Bucky’s head. No I didn’t really want to kill him, but I knew he would come back and try to kill the rest of the Avengers if I didn’t do something. This was my battle to fight, not everyone else's. This was the last piece of the puzzle to my past that had to be dealt with. When I thought the shield was just about him he turned around and caught the freaking thing. He caught a shield going at least twenty or even thirty miles per hour. He grinned at me before tossing it down to the ground below him. I took off again towards him as he was scaling down the building much faster than I could. I jumped and reached out to grab the second flight of stairs platform before jumping to the ground. I picked up the shield and sword that I tossed down with. I ran out of the alley between the two buildings and searched the streets. I didn’t have to look to hard, he was standing on top of a moving van. I ran towards him with my gun held up in the angle enough to shoot him in the head.  
“Bucky…. you were once an American! What turned you?” I questioned and he laughed again pacing on top of the van. I could hear his boots thudding against the black top.  
“No I wasn’t. When I joined your litter brigade I was an American. But you never came after me when I fell!” He yelled pointing at me.  
“Bucky… you fell off the side of the mountain. Why the hell would I come down and check to see if you were alive?! I didn’t think anyone would survive that fall!” I yelled back lowering my gun for a second to shoot a zombie coming to close to me.  
“I was your friend! You should have came down to check and see if I was alive!” He growled.  
“I didn’t really have the time to come and check to make sure you were dead! I was a frozen icicle shortly after you died.” I answered and he shook his head getting down off the van and walking towards me.  
“This time… you wont have the ice to save you!” He came at me with his knife again but this time he managed to knock the shield out of my hand. I tried to reach for it but he kicked it from my grasp and landed a stab in the back of my shoulder. I kicked his feet out from under him and tried to wrestle the knife out of his hand. He pushed me off of him, he was a lot stronger than he appeared. I pulled out the Greek sword and it turned into a knife fight. I felt another strong pain in my hand I only got a few seconds to glance down at my bleeding hand before he knocked my own feet out from under me. He was laughing as he walked over. I started to get up but not before he kicked my rib cage making me roll towards the van.  
“Look how pathetic you are…. you can’t even defend yourself. How are you ever going to defend your family? You son is going to grow up without his father because his father was a pathetic excuse for a soldier” He kicked me in the ribs again and I started to cough up blood. I glanced up at him and his face disappeared from the view of my eyes. I looked over after hearing a blood curdling scream. A zombie had managed to tackle, pin, and bite the arm of Bucky clean off. Blood gushed out of his arm as the meat and tendons hung there. I crawled over to where one of my pistols laid and aimed at the zombie’s head. It turned to face me, it was once a man with black hair but now his eyes were dangling like tether balls from his eye sockets. Blood was covering his face. My stomach’s contents were at my throat before I shot him right in the middle of his forehead twice. He wiggled and squirmed once he hit the ground before falling still. I sat up holding onto the bloody side where Bucky had kicked me around. My shoulder and hand were bleeding as I raised to my feet. Bucky also rose up wobbly as his entire body had turned green and the effects were already hitting him hard. He walked towards me until he had gotten his wits about him. That’s when he attacked me. I tried to fight him off but the exhaustion of my shoulder was getting to me. My lungs couldn’t take in as much oxygen as they wanted to since I had a collapsed rib. I watched life slow down as he reached down and bit my arm. I kicked him off as fast as I can. Please, Zeus, please don’t let this kill me. I rose to my feet and stared down at the squirming Bucky before putting three bullets in his head and one in his chest region.  
“I’m sorry Bucky” I mumbled walking towards where Athena was. I just had to get to her. I had to make sure she was okay before this nasty virus took me over.  
~~~~Athena’s POV~~~~  
I kept glancing in the direction of where Steve disappeared. I just needed to see his form. No matter how bruised, bloody, or broken he was I just needed to see him. Some of the SHIELD soldiers took Gaia back inside and kept making her body take in almost lethal amounts of that sleep inducing drug. Whatever it was, it was working. My main job was to stand on top of cars and play sniper. I kept scout for Zombies as the main Avengers had went to take care of Ultron. Caleb and Barton stayed behind to him keep the contamination to a minimal area. Fury had quarantine off New York City with the aid of the government and the national guard. At this point, New York was used to hiding inside the apartments anytime they heard sirens or gun fire. From Fury I also heard that the virus had been stopped and contained in New York City. So with each kill of these creatures the disease was spreading less and less. That’s a good thing right? Kill humans to make an awful disease go away? Okay not the best solution but it was working. Unfortunately for our small group of heroes, Ultron was winning. He was getting closer and closer to SHIELD headquarters. For some reason that was his goal. No one really knew why but we just assumed it was because he was a mortal enemy of shield so of course the one thing you should take out of an enemy is their base. Thor had made an appearance shortly after Ultron started attacking. Now if he was connected to the attack I will never know but I do know that his help was greatly appreciated. I ran over to Thor who was trying to figure out the best spot to hit Ultron.  
“Thor! We need water!” I yelled and Thor cocked his head at me clearly not understanding what I meant. Duh Athena, he wasn’t at the last battle with Ultron when you practically hosed him down.  
“Did someone say water?” I turned around to find Poseidon walking over in his blue tunic. I ran over and hugged him, listen he is one of the coolest gods to be around. He was laid back but he was a bad ass when it came to fighting and arguing. Everyone wanted him on their side. Poseidon looked a lot like Steve. Except he had almost white hair but it was actually blonde and his blue eyes were the same in the sense that they almost seemed white. He was dark and tan, which anyone would be if they were the God of Water.  
“Yes… he is weak to water!” I answered and Poseidon grinned.  
“Can you get him to walk towards the river? It will take less effort to hose him down if he’s near a large source of water.” Poseidon asked pointing and starting to jog towards the bay. I nodded and ran to tell the other soldiers. Thor started hitting the side of his face with his hammer which had got him angry enough to turn and follow us towards the bay. I smiled knowing we had a greater force on our side that he had not counted on yet. I ran towards Poseidon with Caleb and Barton on my flanks. When Ultron got within meters from the water, Poseidon did his magic. Poseidon stood right in front of Ultron and waved his hands up as water rose out of the bay and towards Ultron we all ran back to give the God and the machine enough room to battle it out but not to much just in case things hit the fan. Which we were all expecting them to. Poseidon thrashed Ultron around with the pressure of the water until he knocked him into the bay. Steam rose up from the bay as Ultron was pushed farther and farther into the water. We all stood there watching until the screams of zombies could be heard. We couldn’t even celebrate the take down of one villain. I grabbed my two guns again and started shooting at what ever was green. I ran past some of the zombies back to my perch so I could watch any zombies coming towards my teammates. More zombies seemed to be spawning and I didn’t know how. How was the crazy disease spreading other than a bite.  
“Athena! Come here!” Barton called out and I ran off my perch and over to where Barton was standing. He was pointing down and alley. In the middle of the alley was the green clump of body parts and we all stood there and watched as a zombie crawled out of it and towards us. Someone from behind me shot at it and ultimately killed. it.  
“What the hell is this?” I yelped already tired of fighting all these idiotic zombies.  
“More importantly…. how do we kill it?” Natasha asked. I started pacing trying to remember what had killed off the mass of zombies back over in Russia. Come on Athena! Think!  
“Hey… didn’t fire kill those zombies back over in Russia? We set the town on fire and it pretty much killed them all off” Caleb offered and we all nodded. Well at least someone remembered.  
“Go get one of those SHIELD helicopters and light it up. It has a flamethrower on the front of it!” Barton ordered and Fury ran off with Natasha. I ran back out of the alley and kept an eye on the bay with Ultron in it. Poseidon was standing guard clearly not having to much trouble keep the machine underwater. I noticed another, bigger form waddling its way down the main street. It was Steve. I jumped off the van and ran towards him.  
“STEVE!” I called out and some of the remaining Avengers followed after me. I kept running towards him until I noticed his slouched position. He was bleeding pretty badly from multiple parts of his body. I ran up to him but he held a hand out as a gesture to stop. Once I got close enough I noticed he was a very very very pale green. No… not Steve.


	19. That's What They are Telling Me....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are reaching the end of the story....only a few more chapters left!~

“No…. no.. stay… back….” He huffed as he looked up at me. He was battling with the zombie side he got close to me before falling to his knees in front of me with his head hanging down.  
“Steve… what happened?” I asked wanting to touch him but not knowing if this disease was contagious by skin to skin contact or just bites.  
“Bucky…. zombie… I…. I can fight it off…” He panted, he was actually fighting off the infection. His skin only had a slight touch of green to it. But his body was weak from what appears to be blood and a lot of moving. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had actually or could fight it off. The serum he was given gave his body the ability to fight off infection faster and heal itself. His white blood cell count was always extremely high.  
“Caleb! Get a doctor now!” I yelled over my shoulder and I watched as Caleb took off, even dropping his gun as he ran inside the shield building.  
“You okay?'” He coughed looking up at me from his position on the ground. In truth I had a scratch from Ultron on my back and I had twisted my ankle but there as no way in hell I was going to tell him that.  
“Yes I’m fine. You just gotta fight it. Don’t you want to see our son? He’s going to love you so much” I mumbled trying to hold back tears. There was no guarantee that his body could fight it off. I ran my hand through his hair as he coughed up what seemed like a entire lung. I heard more footsteps come closer and Caleb’s voice ring out. Five to six emergency medical technicians ran over to Steve and lifted him off the ground and into a stretcher. I watched as they ran him inside. I picked up his shield and held onto it. It was extremely heavy for my small weight. I clipped it onto my back and ran back over to the current fire battle of the ages going on in the alley. One of the SHIELD helicopters was fire giant waves of flames down the alley but clearly there was some issues with this idea. First off squares do not fit in the circle hole. Just like how a plane does not fit down and alley that is barely big enough for a car. I jogged over and leaned against the car, my feet were killing me along with my head. This heavy shield wasn’t helping either. No wonder he never wanted me to carry it. It’s a pain in the ass! Barton was shooting multiple arrows down the alley while others were shooting.  
“No luck?” I asked once I hobbled my way over to Barton.  
“No…. plane wont fit” He sighed. I waved up at Fury who caught my wave. I mouth ‘Turn it sideways’ and he nodded as the plane fit down the building and started to catch the clump on fire. The plane reappeared on the other side and hovered over the spot on top of the buildings. I grabbed Barton for support and to get his attention.  
“Go…. go get a gasoline tank… we can just do it the old fashion way” I smiled and he nodded as he took off towards one of the gas stations down the street. I was leaning against a car for support when Caleb came over.  
“You need to get inside and off this foot” He announced pointing towards my twisted ankle.  
“But you guys need my help” I muttered as he pulled my arm over his shoulder and hopped us into shield head quarters.  
“We’ve got it. But Captain will kill me if he knew I was letting you pushing yourself like that.” Caleb finished as more emergency medical technicians ran over to help me onto a stretch myself. I gave in and laid down after holding onto the shield for safe keeping.  
"Ma’am… we’ll put this in your room” One of the nurses said taking it from my hands. I watched her disappear with it. What was going was they were carrying us through the main hall of the SHIELD head quarters which connected to a hospital on the other side. It was safer since no zombies could come in and do more harm. The wheeled me into the same room as Steve. I looked over at him as the started assessing me. I watched as he turned his head and opened his eyes to meet mine. They were a soft robin egg blue. His blinks were slow and almost loving. Like how he blinked after the first time we kissed. He was drawing everything in that he could. He had a breathing tube over his mouth but I knew he was smiling.His cheeks were pulled up in the smile shape, he wasn’t in pain. And if he was, some part of his body was blocking the pain. He blinked a few times before closing his eyes. I smiled and tried to wipe the tears away. Time slowed down after that, I just watched him as they worked on him. They were repairing him but he just slept. He was facing me but slept peacefully. No furrowed eyebrows. No frown lines. Just peace. I partially listened as they talked about how he was the last human with the infection. They also said that he was fighting it off but his body had gone in what they called was shut down. He was just sleeping. His body needed to repair. Just like it did when he was frozen. It just needed some sleep and pain medicine while it worked. He was going to be okay. Or at least…. that’s what they were telling me.  
~~~~  
A month had passed since the incident and Steve had yet to woken up yet. They said that his body was still mending itself, even though there was nothing wrong with him. They could not find a single thing wrong with him. I was still pregnant after a quick scare when they gave me a certain kind of medicine. Apparently Olympians cant take Tylenol. Who knew? Barton had access to me and Steve’s house since he was preparing a surprise nursery for us. No one would let me get off my feet. I was put on permanent bed rest. The nice part about it was I was in the same room as Steve. Mostly because I ordered it and Coulson backed me up on it. Steve only had an IV in his right hand but that’s it. He just looked like he was taking a nap. Nothing more, nothing less. Natasha even came to visit me, she brought with a teddy bear for Steve and a baby book for me to read.  
“Thought of a name yet?” She asked sitting down in a chair. I shook my head as I flipped through random pages in my book.  
“No… I want it to mean something. But I can’t think of anything good” I admitted sitting the book down on my bedside table. She crossed her legs.  
“What about just Ares?” She offered and I leaned back thinking about it. No one really knew who Steve’s heir was going to be. Gods and Goddesses have passed down their powers to their offspring. Zeus did it constantly, but never have Ares and Athena both passed down their power. If he got a power it would be Ares. I would have to find a different heir.  
“You know…. it’s not a bad option” I smiled nodding my head mulling it over more in my head. Natasha chuckled as she walked over to Steve’s bedside.  
“I never meant to threaten you and Steve’s relationship” She mumbled looking him over.  
“Then why did you try?” I asked sitting up in my bed, but my five month pregnant belly preventing some of my movement. Most of the doctors accepted the idea of a fast developing child when I told them. Most of them have seen super hero children come and go from this hospital so it seemed almost natural to them. They kept a good check on him and told me when I needed to take my medicine. Most of the day I spent reading books on babies, helping Barton pick out stuff for the nursery and listening to Caleb ramble on about some news report when he came to visit. He was such a good guy, I hated having to make him realize I was off the market for good. He flirted but I knew it was harmless. He never was a threat to mine and Steve’s relationship but he was a challenge for Steve.  
“I was just… jealous. I mean you two were the perfect couple… and I never could get Barton to act like that. Everyone shook their head at us but bowed to your guy’s feet. I don’t get it. What were we doing wrong?” She questioned sitting back down in her chair.  
“I honestly don’t know. And I know that’s not the answer you want to hear but it’s the truth. Steve and I fought, some days I hated his guts for being so far behind on this generation. And I’m sure he had his days where you wasn’t the most pleased with me. That’s being a couple. Its being ticked at each other for a few hours, then laying down on the couch together and muttering I’m sorry. That was the rule in our house. We couldn’t go to bed angry at each other. Because if you went to bed angry at one another… you woke up even angrier. I loved him to much to be angry at him constantly.” I admitted and she chuckled and leaned back in her chair.  
“Barton doesn’t get that… he just wants to please me… but sometimes fights are fun” She smiled before shaking her head and looking back up at me for confirmation.  
“Yeah they are. But only if they are stupid little arguments that can be ended with a kiss and ‘I’m sorry’ “ I smiled.  
“Did the silent treatment work on Steve?” She asked and I nodded.  
“Oh yeah… he really doesn’t know how to handle a silent woman. He can do good if I’m yelling but he knows if I go silent turning an argument, he’s in deep trouble. He may be this all mighty hero, but he cracks under silence with me.” I laughed and she smiled looking over at him.  
“He seems like he would know how to handle you” She added.  
“He does… no clue how he knows. But he knows. He knows every little button he could push… and I knew his” I smiled standing up, which made Natasha jump to her feet.  
“Are you allowed to be up?” She asked putting her hands on her hips. I held up a hand to stop her.  
“I hate being in this bed. I can walk around just a little.” I smiled walking over to Steve’s bed and pushing his hair out of his face.  
“Do you know when he will wake up?” She asked following me to the foot of his bed.  
“No…. the doctor’s don’t know why he’s still in a coma. He didn’t hit his head hard enough to damage anything. His body is almost perfectly healed despite some minor cuts and bruises. But they are healing pretty quickly.” I finished slipping my hand into his. It was still warm, his fingers even slightly curled around mine. I knew he was conscious somewhere in that head of his. He always reacted to my touch, he just never opened his eyes. I glanced over at Natasha who smiled big.  
“He knows its you… has he reacted to the baby yet?” She asked walking closer to me. I shook my head.  
“I’ve never tried” I smiled picking his hand up and placing it on the spot where the little guy was moving. His fingers moved a little and he stirred. Natasha gasped and so did I. He hadn’t moved since he went under.  
"He knows its his son….. that’s amazing” She smiled whipping her cheek. I had to wipe my own.  
“He may not wake up, but he’s here in spirit. Sometimes it feels like he’s right next to me in my bed. I think his body is just healing so he can live with his son healthy.” I answered and Natasha nodded.


	20. God Bless America

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter has a stupid name but you'll understand why when you read it.

~~~~~~~~Steve’s POV~~~~~  
If only Athena knew how true that was. I had been up and moving in spirit. That’s all I could do to let her know that I was still there and trying to get back to her and our son. I just simply moved my own fingers and my fingers on my body moved to her touch. And before you even start to think that way, no I was not see through. I could pick stuff up and move things. It was an out of body experience mostly thanks to the Greek God in me. I watched as her and Natasha talked some more before Natasha left for the night. Athena walked the room before laying back in her bed and falling asleep with her hand on her distended belly. I walked over and picked up the covers and pulled them over her so she would stop shivering. I turned around found Zeus leaning against the wall smiling like a fool.  
“She looks peaceful sleeping” He smiled walking over to her. I tensed up a little and he held a hand up.  
“I’m her Father remember? You know the story as well as I do.” I nodded as he leaned down to kiss her head before rubbing her belly. It was a loving touch and not one you were probably thinking. This was Zeus. He wasn’t always a weird guy. And this technically was his daughter and grandson so it worked…. sort of.  
“Why can’t I wake up?” I questioned and he sighed as he walked back over to one of the red chairs in the room and sat down crossing one leg over the other.  
“Because I wanted to keep you asleep until I had this rumor confirmed.” He sighed stroking his shabby beard. I sat down on the corner of Athena’s bed and crossed my arms over my chest waiting for him to explain.  
“What rumor?” I questioned.  
“According to oracles of Olympus…. Athena and your son are suppose to die the day of his birth” He uttered and I stood up.  
“Why? We put Gaia to sleep…. we defeated the creatures! Hell we killed Ultron! What else do they need to keep him alive?” I asked getting loud but I didn’t worry about waking Athena well because… she truly couldn’t hear me. He raised two hands in a gesture to settle down and let him speak.  
“You forget that he’s not even suppose to be born…. so even conceiving him was against the laws of Olympus. But since I’m so fond of you and Athena… I’m going to give you an option to save everyone.” He explained and I stood up again.  
“I’ll do it. What ever it takes to keeping them alive” I answered looking over my shoulder at her still peacefully sleeping.  
“I figured you would. Here’s the deal: You give up your immortality to your son. But you have to remain in the coma for the first year of his life. His birth and mother will not be affected. It will be completely normal” Zeus finished and sighed heavily. The first year… that’s when all the important milestones come around. I remember Athena telling me about them.  
“I accept on one condition: I can pick him up and talk to him without anyone else knowing. Everyone will just think he’s talking to himself. Its his first year… no one is going to think anything of it.” I ended and Zeus nodded.  
“Deal… hell just cause I can’t wait to see this little warrior. I’ll throw in this extra treat for you. You can write to Athena. But you can never say why you are awake or why you can’t wake up or when. Let it surprise her on his birthday.” Zeus smiled and I walked over to him and held my hand out to shake on it. Zeus walked over and shook my hand staring at me to see if I backed off his offer. Which I didn’t.  
“I’m sorry for putting this on your family” He apologized.  
"I’m used to it at this point…. I almost could have guessed something like this would have happened the moment I found out she was pregnant. Its just the nature of events. I’m not even supposed to be here so his birth is a ton of miracles wrapped into one tiny blue bundle” I smiled walking over to him.  
“Did she pick out a name yet?” He asked coming on the other side of her. I nodded my head holding her empty hand.  
“Ares Steven Rogers” I smiled kissing her forehead. He chuckled shaking his head.  
“He is going to have the most unique name in his kindergarten class” He chuckled more looking up at me.  
“He is going to have the most normal upbringing I can give him. I know it will be hard to keep that standard but its something I’m shooting for” I nodded looking up at him.  
“You know Steve…. its not always a bad thing having a unique life. He’s not a normal son. He doesn’t have normal parents. Hell his entire family is a bunch of misfit toys with a dash of supernatural powers. He’s never going to have a normal upbringing but I think he’ll do just fine in his life. I mean come on…. look at the dad he’s got to look up to” He joking punched my shoulder like any father would when a hug is too much. I laughed and nodded my head.   
“That first year I’m going to make as much contact as I can. I want him to know me when I appear. No ‘mommy who is that’ I want him to know I’m daddy and that I’m sorry for being gone” I nodded holding in my tears and Zeus could tell.  
“He’ll know. I have no doubt he’s going to know who his father is. Just make sure you let Athena know you are there. She’s going to have a hard time being there without you.” I nodded as he walked away from the bed.  
“Time to go already?” I asked and he nodded.  
“I’ll be back the day of his birth and the day you wake up. Take good care of my princess” He smiled as he walked out the window. Yes he literally opened the window walked out of it and turned into an eagle and flew off. I smiled, God Bless America. I moved a chair close to her bed and sat down and held onto her hand. She stirred a little but smiled gently in her sleep.  
~~~~ Athena’s POV~~~~~  
I woke up and stretch out. The doctor’s said he was growing faster since he was close to his birth. More and more doctors had been coming and going since some of them have never seen a super hero child with his abilities. Sometimes I just had to order them out and sometimes they would get spooked and leave the room. I just figured it was their own dumb mines making them scared of something that wasn’t there. He was kicking a lot more now and moving around, he was ready to get out and I was ready for him to be out. Unfortunately, Steve had yet to wake up but the doctor said there was lots of brain activity going on under his blonde head. They thought it meant he was on his way back to the world of the living but no one knew for sure. I prayed to mother Hera that he would wake up before Ares was born. But a gut feeling told me he wasn’t going to. And another gut feelings told me that he was here…. I just couldn’t see him or he could only move things or something. Greek Gods were notorious for walking around out of body to find out secrets and battle plans. Steve must be doing something like that. Watching out for his family. He was good at that. Or at least it seemed like that. He always knew when I was upset or ready to break a hole in the wall. I hope our son was going to pick up on that same trait down the road. I wanted him to look just like Steve. He didn’t need to have any of my traits. Maybe my freckles, yeah that would prove his my kid. But no, he can look like his dad. Sandy blonde hair pushed to the side in a perfect part, robin egg blue eyes, jaw like a Greek god. He would definitely be the heart breaker of the family. Maybe not with his dad’s personality. Hell, he may have a hard time getting a girl for prom. Steve warmed up to me pretty quickly so maybe when he finds the one he’ll warm up like Steve. I smiled as he kicked around a little until pain started to hit me. I sat up straight and gripped onto the sheets. The pain started to get worse.  
“Steve…. if you are even remotely here… make a doctor come in the door now… I think our son is on his way” I asked closing my eyes shut tight as the door opened as I herd the clumping of shoes.  
“Mrs. Rogers? Are you alright?” Mr. Jones, my main doctor after I came in with Steve, strong Boston accent rang out. I opened my eyes up and looked at him shaking my head.  
“No…. it hurts a lot” I mumbled and he stepped out of the room and yelled for some nurses. He walked over and asked me to lay down and I did.  
“Contractions…” He answered as I felt wetness in my lower half.  
“Um… I peed just over an hour ago… any reason why my bed is wet?” I asked looking over at him and he nodded.  
“Your water broke…it’s a good sign that means he is processing naturally through the birth process” He answered checking my IV as nurses came in. Caleb and Barton ran in as well both of them out of breath with hair messed up, clearly they had been taking naps.  
“I’m fine…. its just time for little Rogers to come” I smiled. Barton glanced at Caleb and they both looked over at Steve’s sleeping body.  
“One of you can stay with her…. the other needs to go out and stay with the other visitors. “ Mr. Jones ordered and they both looked over at me.  
“You two battle it out… “ I ordered as more pain started to hit my lower region again. Barton nodded and Caleb left the room. He walked over and stood beside the bed.  
“Now… I know I’m no Steve…. but I’ll try to help as best as I can. I’m sure the… Cap is here in spirit. “ Barton smiled looking over at Steve’s sleeping body. His heart rate had increased but still no signs of waking up. I nodded and laid back down as the started to prepare me for the birth.


	21. One Last Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more Chapter then the story is all over! Hopefully you'll like the ending.

“He’s so handsome….” Natasha commented rubbing his head with one finger. I smiled holding him in my arms. After hours upon hours of doctors moving him around he finally came out. Ares didn’t come out the normal way. No of course not… cause why would he? After I went into labor the doctor’s discovered that Ares had his umbilical cord wrapped his throat, which was choking the poor little thing. Then even after that he started to have breathing problems. They whisked him away from me so fast I barely got to see his perfect little face. I sat there waiting as the nurses helped clean me up as we waited for news of Ares. Barton, Caleb, Natasha, Pepper, and even Tony came in for a visit. They all were anxious to meet the little guy who took so long to get here. And I know what you are thinking… but he was twice as fast how did it take so long? Just accept the description I gave you. Within in thirty minutes a nurse revisited smiling with little Ares in her arm. He was wrapped in the most awfully shaded blue blanket. But he was crying and waving his arms around she walked over and handed him to me. He was pinkish and had goo on his eyes but he was still my little one. I started to rock him singing the lullaby I used to sing to Steve. His crying dull down as I repeated the song over and over again. I noticed Natasha rest her chin on her hands as she sat in one of the lounge chairs. Barton found a wall to lean against and Caleb just flat out sat on the floor. I held him until I could tell Barton was getting anxious.  
“Would you like to hold him Clint?” I asked as he popped his head up and stood up straight. He walked over before stopping close to the bed.  
“He won’t…. cry right?” He asked coming closer. I smiled.  
”He’s asleep. Unless you make a loud noise or jerk him around…. he should stay asleep.” I smiled as he walked over.  
“How do I hold him?” He asked and Natasha came over to help him.  
“Just like I am…just watch his head” I smiled transferring him over to Clint’s arms who treated him like he was… well a glass baby. He kept him close to his chest as he walked over and sat down in a chair.  
“He’s so tiny…. and warm” He smiled resting his cheek on his head. I giggled watching him before looking over at Steve. He was sound asleep still and I sighed. He should be awake holding his son but he’s not.  
“I’m sure he wants to be here” Caleb commented after I started wiping my cheeks off more often.  
“I just wish he was here…. I miss him so much” I started sniffling before Caleb walked over to give me a hug.  
“Just enjoy your son… he’s going to wake up soon.” Caleb mumbled as he rubbed my back. I nodded and took a deep breath. Steve was going to wake up soon enough… I just had to be patient.  
~~~~~ Steve’s POV~~~~  
I had to wait until she had finally fallen asleep. Everyone just had to hold him more than once. Then he had to eat. And then he fell asleep followed by his lovely mother. She and everyone was right. I stood there watching on guard protecting her and my son as much as I could. He was amazing. He was the perfect combination of us. I know Athena probably said something about wanting him to look like me. Personally I wanted some of Athena’s traits too. I honestly can’t tell you how much I cried today. And yes I cried. I cried when he started crying for the first time, when he opened his eyes, when she started crying because I wasn’t there. Oh yeah… I was the biggest of the cry babies today. And I was okay with that. I deserved to cry. And so did she. Once everyone was asleep I walked over to his little crib and picked him up. When I picked him up it was just like me, it was an out of body experience. He was still laying there that way if there was any cameras watching, no one had a freak out when the baby randomly started floating on its own. I walked over and sat down on a chair and held him as close to me as I could. He was sound asleep chewing on this itty bitty binky in his mouth. Natasha had brought it, it had a little Captain America shield on it. He was still wrapped in a blue blanket but Athena had sent Natasha to pick up some new born clothes for him. He had on a little blue footy pajama with horses on it. I had to laugh a little at the horses but it was her style and so it was passed onto our son. I held him for awhile until Athena started to shift so I sat him back down in his bed and sat down.  
~6 months later~  
“Come here Ares” Athena called out sitting on the floor with the black haired Ares. He sucked on his binky and looked over at me. I shook my head and he started to laughing. I shook my head and he started to laugh even more. Athena sighed heavy and put her head in her hands. He had been doing this since he could realize who I was. Despite me not being there in the physical world, I was a dad as much as I could be. When he would start to get fussy at night, I would pick him up and rock him, she always just assumed he was a perfect baby who slept through the night. I figured it was the only fair thing that I could do to help her. I had done some other minor things to help her. Sometimes bottles would almost fall or toys would get lost so I would go on hunts for them. Even though it was very minor things, it helped her and that’s all that mattered to me. I left notes here and there but it was just the simple saying of ‘to the moon and back.’ At first she was scared of my little notes but then I started adding Steve to my notes so she knew it was me and not some random spirits. I also started talking to Ares once he could understand me. He knew I was daddy, he started saying it to me and Athena was so confused until she started to understand that I was doing something. Other events happened after he started to come towards me. He took his first steps towards me and crawled towards me. But the best thing that happened was when Hera and Zeus were arguing over my little guy. Athena and Ares had taken a nap so I had laid myself down behind Athena with my arms draped over them. Unfortunately I always made her cold since I was a spirit so she always had to have a blanket on when I laid with her. Naturally I would cover her up and then lay down. I had my eyes closed until I heard whispers. I glanced up to find Hera covering her mouth and Zeus shaking his head. She knelled down in front of Athena and ran her hand gently over Ares’ little head.  
“He looks a lot like Athena. Black hair and freckles just like her, but he is definitely your son” She smiled brushing his coal black hair off to the side. I smiled and rested my chin on Athena’s shoulder.  
“Hera…. I already made a deal with him” Zeus sighed heavily crossing his arms across his chest. I looked up at him and had to use a lot of self control for making me lay like this.  
“Another deal?” I sighed heavily looking between the both of them. Hera stood up and fixed her purple silk dress while keeping her eyes on Ares. Ares was still sound asleep in Athena’s arms with his face nuzzled into her chest. She nodded and pushed Zeus a little. She had red hair that flowed down her shoulders and black like a river. Her eyes were golden and her smile reminded me of my own mother’s smile.  
“Last one dear…. if you can get back to your body without alerting anyone, you can wake up and be with Athena. But she will lose her immortality as well” Athena finished and I looked between the both of them.  
“Why are you guys so concerned with making our lives worse?” I asked sitting up and Hera nodded and Zeus wouldn’t make eye contact with me. I sat there waiting for an answer.  
“I just wanted to put you back in your body and let you be with your family. I’m sorry Zeus made you miss the first six months. But he made me make a goal for you…. I’m sorry sweetie” She sighed as I stood up and walked over to the front door. I glanced back over at my shoulder at the two of the gods.  
“I’ll be back” I growled walking out the door. Unfortunately we lived a mile from town.  
So I started to jog at a steady pace wanting to get to the city. From the city I knew there was a train that would transfer me straight to New York City. Once there, the SHIELD headquarters were easy walking distance from the train station. My body was resting in the room that I first woke up in. Back in high school when I was small Steve, miles took me forever to run. Well over twelve minutes, now I can do one in 7 minutes easy, if I pushed myself it could be done in five minutes. I just had to pace myself. I finally reached the main part of Boston and jogged over to the train station and slipped inside without to much trouble. I had a bike back at the SHIELD headquarters that I could drive back to the house. I was going to be back in my body and be back with Athena and my little Ares within the hour. I sat in a blank seat on the train and watched the scenery that flashed by the windows. The train was full of business men and women watching their phone screens intently but there was also some senior citizens who were reading the newspaper while children ran up and down the walkway of the train. The large metal machine pulled to a slow stop and I let some other citizens off first, even helping an old lady walk off the train as I started to jog towards the glassy black building that sat on the corner. You could only tell it was the SHIELD headquarters if you knew where it was. It just looked like a really pretty skyscraper. I jogged inside the garage and onto the stairs as I ran upstairs as quick as I could towards the hospital room. I was getting tired and I knew it was because I was using up so much energy from running around two states trying to get back to my body. I walked past doctors and nurses as I walked into my room. My own heartbeat on the monitor was beeping faster. I walked over to my body and laid down and closed my eyes. Darkness enclosed my mind as pain started to slowly seep up my body. First it started in my finger tips then my wrist, it flowed up to my elbows and then into my shoulders. I knew I would be in pain from laying in the same position for over eight months, but this may be to much pain for that. I held my growing cries of pain as it began to creep up my legs like a snake flowing directly towards my heart. I could feel the pressure enclose my heart in a tight chamber. I couldn’t yet move my body so I was paralyzed in this painful dungeon of my body and there was nothing I could do about. I tried to move or squirm, anything to get the pain to go away. Anything. I had a guess that it was either the immortality leaving my body or all the pain from surgery was just coming at once. Hell it may have been a combination of both or even more. Whatever it was, I wanted it out of my system as soon as possible. I want to go back home. That’s it. That’s literally been my goal for months now… just get back home. I just want to eat a hamburger while watching my son crawl around on the floor as my wife sits next to me on the couch. I know it sounds boring but trying being in my shoes for once. Simple boring things like that become such a big want they weigh out anything else in this big old world. Here I am again, sleeping. I thought seventy years was PLENTY of time for me to sleep…. unfortunately it didn’t seem like it since now I’m stuck here. Stuck here trying to move one of my fingers. It was bending. My joint was bending in my hand! Come on give me more power, I need to get home to my wife and my little boy. The more I concentrated on the finger, the more parts moved, soon my eyes were blinking there way open. A young ginger headed nurse walked in reading over a file, she glanced up to look at me and dropped the file out of her hands as I sat up.


	22. Never Tell Anyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done. This the last installment of this series. Thanks so much for reading it to the end. I will be writing again for NanoWrimo then I may do some writing in between. But college makes it hard sometimes. Once again thanks so much and feel free to leave a comment. I like hearing my reader's opinion.

“S- S- Sir? You’re awake! Doctor Jones!” She yelled running out of the room as I placed my feet down on the ground. Finally out of the bed. Wow this room seems a lot smaller now that I am awake. Where are my clothes? Note to Self: Eat something once you get home. I feel so exposed in this itty bitty hospital night gown. Dr. Jones came rushing in and over to me. His jaw dropped seeing me tower over his little frame, but mostly because I was awake. He put his hands on my chest trying to get me to sit back down. I pushed his hands off me as I met his eyes with mine. He took a few steps back and gestured for the what seemed like hundred other nurses to back up as well.  
“Give the man some room…” He ordered and the nurses nodded. He took a few steps back and crossed his arms and pushed up his glasses. I started to stretch out a little before running a hand through my blonde hair that had grown back while I was asleep. Athena is going to have to buzz that.  
“Don’t… tell Athena…” I ordered trying to stand straight as I walked over to were my clothes were laying on a bench. The nurses walked over trying to help me. Someone of them didn't know how to even help. I shooed them out so I could pull the curtain shut and get dress. Listen after being asleep for that long, it was a little difficult getting my fingers to operate how I wanted them to. The zipper was the biggest challenge for me. Once I finally got it to where it needed to be I pulled on a shirt left here. Natasha or Athena must had picked out clothes for me to wear home. Jeans, a nice loose fitting shirt, and some slip on tennis shoes, along with my beloved Boston baseball cap. I was set to go as I opened up the curtain and Coulson with Barton was waiting outside for me. A smug grin on his face.  
“Ready to go home big guy?” Barton asked smiling as I nodded following them towards the garage where several SHIELD vehicles were parked.  
“The doctor said you wanted to surprise Athena?” Coulson asked looking up at the rear view mirror at me. I nodded watching out the window. I had a slight throbbing in the back of my head but I just wanted to be home already. No more waiting around till Ares was one. I wanted to be home now.  
“Don’t tell her anything…” I ordered again and Coulson raised his hands up in defense.  
“My lips are sealed. I’ll make sure no SHIELD agent touches or even comes near your house. You are off duty for the next year. Both of you. We owe you both a lot” Coulson announced and I nodded. I watched as Barton drove us to my house before parking the car enough for me to get out and into my house. I turned around as I walked up the driveway to wave at them as my own personal ‘thanks for the ride’. I picked up the little deer statue on our front porch and took out the house key from under its belly. I sat it back down quietly and unlocked the door. I took the first few steps in and it already smelled like home. Nothing smells more like home than warm vanilla candles. I took my shoes off and silently made my way across the living room and up the stairs once I heard someone gently singing a lullaby. I made my way up the stairs before I heard a door shut and a gasp followed shortly after. I look up and there she was. Standing at the top of the stairs as I walked up and hugged her.  
“Welcome home” She smiled as we walked to our bedroom and laid down on the bed. She left the door open so that if Ares started crying one of us could hear him. I yawned and laid down close to her.  
“Its so nice to sleep in my own bed” I smiled holding her hand she smiled laying down with me.  
“Why…. why did it take so long for you to wake up?” She asked and I sighed turning onto my back. I took a deep breath before turning to face her.  
“Because I gave up my immortality for Ares” I admitted and she cocked her head to one side.  
“You gave it up? But he was born just fine… besides some minor problems” She asked and I nodded.  
“No…. he was suppose to be still born and it was suppose to kill you… but I gave up my immortality to save you both. And don’t make me feel bad about my decision… I chose it knowing fully that I wouldn’t be able to see him until he turned one. “ I explained and she nodded.  
“He’s was going to die?” She asked her voice quivering a little at the thought of our only son dying before he even took his first breath. I sighed and nodded pulling her closer.  
“You both were suppose to. He wasn’t even suppose to be conceived in the first place, let alone live until the day of his actual birth. Zeus wanted to save the only Ares and Athena child that had made it this far in the gestation period. He had a soft spot for our little man” I smiled.  
“Why one years old?” She questioned and I shrugged my shoulders.  
“I honestly have no clue. The only thing that I could thank of was a form of punishment for breaking the traditional Greek laws. Athena and Ares are never suppose to be together let alone have a child together. I think Zeus had to punish one of us. And I guess that was the easiest for of punishment for him to administer to me.” I answered and she nodded.  
“But… he’s not one yet. Why are you up and kicking?” She asked. I knew she didn’t mean for that to sound like she didn’t want me up. But it was all confusing to someone who just got their husband back.  
“Thanks to Hera… she lifted the time length… if I gave up your immorality as well” I answered and she laid down next to me.  
“Have you been the one leaving notes everywhere?” She asked backing up a little to look me in the face. I smiled and nodded.  
“I didn’t want you to feel alone while I was asleep. I did a lot of things around you, Ares, and the house while I was in spirit form” I answered and she cocked her head again like a little puppy.  
“Spirit form?” I nodded running a hand through my hair.  
“Yeah it was kind of weird. I was invisible to everyone but Ares. He would smile and laugh at me. I could pick him up and other objects. I just couldn’t make you touch me like I could with Ares. I could get up at night and feed him just fine, but if you walked into his nursery he would just look like he was asleep.  
“So he wasn’t a perfect baby by sleeping all through the night? Daddy was there helping when mommy couldn’t” She smiled and I nodded.  
“I wanted you to get some sleep so I figured if this is the only way I can help well…. so be it then. He crawled to me for the first time… he walked to me… we are good friends” I chuckled and she shook her head.  
“He got to spend more time with daddy than I thought. I was so worried he was going to be scared of you once you woke up…. but looks like it shouldn’t be to hard for him.” She smiled.  
“Yup… it’s just easier on us. Even though it was the most heart string pulling adventure… it still got to experience things that I would have never had the whole Mother Gaea thing never happened.” I added in and she just nodded a little.  
“So…. is Ares going to be okay?” She asked and I wrapped my arms around her. I took another breath glancing up at the black ceiling fan going around in a slow circle keeping the warm the almost temperature. I couldn’t honestly answer this question because in truth… I had no clue. I wanted him to be healthy of course but… he wasn’t the most normal child. I mean come on look at who his parents are. They aren’t normal what so ever. In fact this kids whole heritage and his extended family was unique. No one else had this kind of family unit or heritage that was so pure.  
“He should be… he has no reason to be sick other than by human sickness. They have everything they could want from us…. and he is the heir to the Ares God” I explained and she nodded her head. I mean I got sick while being Ares so that means I must be able to take in human viruses like the cold and the flu. That means he could play hooky down the road. Oh great, mom would give into him and I’d have to call uncle Banner to come and make sure he was really sick. At the point I’m just going to go along with what ever Athena says is okay.  
“I’m glad you are finally here” She whispered as I reached over and turned on the lullaby.  
“Me too…. hold on” I got up and walked to Ares’ blue and red room and picked him up. He was so heavy and warm compared to what his spirit feels like. I gently pressed my cheek to his head as I carried him into our room and laid down. I laid him in his baby bed near my side of the bed. Grabbing one of billionth baby blankets in our room, I tucked him in with a kiss to the head. I walked back over to the bed and pulled it as close to the bed as I could. She curled up with her head on my chest as I rested on hand inside his crib. She closed her eyes as I kicked off my shoes almost shutting the door with a heavy hit of one of my tennis shoes. She giggled after it thumped and I took a deep breath. I was finally home. After all those zombies…. and Bucky… and Ultron I was finally home. Who knew what the future held for my mini family.  
“I love you” She said half way asleep.  
“And I love you to the moon and back” I smiled closing my eyes.  
You now know both sides of the story. Both sides of our hectic lives. Who knows the future holds for me, Athena, Ares, and the rest of the world. But I do know three things. One I am absolutely in love with Athena Denecour-Rogers. Two: I am a proud member of the misfit toys group called the Avengers.  
And Three….  
I am Steve Rogers. God of War and the infamous Captain America.  
Never. Tell. Anyone.


End file.
